Impeachment process with Molly Reynolds. And a discussion on president it on the federal judiciary. Host as President Trump and many of his supporters call for the public naming of the whistleblower in the impeachment inquiry, there is bipartisan opposition on capitol hill and reluctance by News Organizations. Visit important to know the identity of the whistleblower . Democrats call 2027488000. Republicans, 2027488001. And for independents and others, 2027488003. 2. You can send us a text. That is 2027488003. We are on twitter at cspanwj. Facebook. Com cspan is where you post. We will take a look at some of the key races across the country. Starting with the whistleblower in a report out this morning out npr, can trump legally the whistleblower . Experts say it would not violate any laws and picture of the president and rand paul. President trump and his allies have amplified their calls for the whistleblower who spark to the impeachment inquiry to be weather it would whether it would be a crime for the president to unmask the whistleblower. According to government officials, the answer is no. If trump thinks he knows the name, he can come out and say it and he is probably as protected as anyone said robert litt. Other legaleral experts said trump guttering or tweeting the name could, in theory, trigger an article of impeachment for retaliating against the whistleblower, but it would not run afoul of any criminal statutes. If a news outlet or member of congress or member of public outed whistleblower, no criminal law would be violated. Asking you how important is it to know the identity of the was a blower . Of the whistleblower . The headline in usa today, do your job. Rand paul demands the media reveal the whistleblowers identity. He said that at mondays rally with President Trump. Here is a look. [video clip] needs to step up and have equal courage to defend the president. Hunter biden made 50,000 a month. That is the definition of corruption, we know he got it only because of his family connections. We also now know the name of the whistleblower. Whistleblower needs to come before congress as a material witness because he worked for joe biden at the same time under biden was getting money from corrupt oligarchs. I say to the media, do your job and print his name. [applause] and i say this to my fellow colleagues in congress, to every republican in washington, step subpoena hunter biden and subpoena the was a blower the whistleblower. And i say to my colleagues, if shifty schiff will not let hunter biden come and will not bring the whistleblower forward, every member of congress should take a walk and say this is a farce. Host rand paul monday in louisville at the rally for matt pavitt matt bevin, who appears to be losing the race for governor. Bevin refuses to concede as kentucky ruben at oriole race goes down to the wire Gubernatorial Race goes down to the wire. Democrats did that to dana rossy in washington in 2004, keep counting until the d wins. Democrats lead republicans by approximately 5000. Others saying kentucky have no automatic has no automatic recount law. If trump had not come to kentucky, bevin would be so far behind, there would not be a need for a recount. Is it important to know the import the identity of the whistleblower . 2027488000 for democrats. 2027488001, republicans. For all others, that is 2027488002. A quick comment, one of several on facebook. Regardless of party, his identity should be revealed. The public should know so they wont think it is a random or bogus person this person should have security detail 24 7. Joe in florida, good morning. Caller good morning, sir. No because the whistleblower is protected by the constitution. Rand paul, Lindsey Graham, they need to do their job. The blue wave is coming soon. You saw what happened in kentucky and virginia, it will happen in many states. Carolina the blue wave is coming and this is the beginning of the end of trump. It will be out in 2020. He is going to lose big time because he is so corrupt. Caller good morning. We live in a time of consensus the divisiveuse of , it isch devices important that one should realize by traditions, we have always had the opportunities to face our accusers. Even jesus faced his accuser with judas. He faced him with a kiss. , it seems tokiss me we dont really know who said if they were acting in good faith or not. It is important to have that confrontedump, to be and really ask him some questions. Host what would you consider of the question, the substance of his complaint or his background . Works, his political views, etc. . Are those relevant in the investigation . Ourer there is a truth of reality and we should understand what that reality and what that truth is and that is the reason he should be faced. Host lets hear from barbara, democrats line asking is it important to know the identity of the whistleblower on the phone call in particular. This is barbara. Caller i truly believe their identity should be kept secret if are no other reason than in the future, it sets a precedent for whether or not we protect people inside our judiciary system. I am democrat, but i believe in protecting this person now, we would also protect a whistleblower perhaps against a democratic president. I think the fact we can have these checks and balances is important. Said,he caller before me if he needed to come into court and face donald trump in a court setting, that is fine, but i believe in the general public, his identity should be protected so in the future people feel comfortable coming forward with information that might be important for such investigations. Next,independent line is curtis in baltimore, maryland. Go ahead. Caller yes, sir, good morning, cspan. That the identity of the whistleblower should be kept a secret because these are the rules on the policies put into place prior to this impeachment. Is republicans want to do put this persons name out there so they can smear this individual in every way possible and that is what they do. As far as impeachment itself, i think the president should have been impeached a long time ago. Host on text and twitter, this is anne texting us. Just like someone reporting a crime by calling 911, it matters more about the crime. There is enough corroboration to backup the account, it does not matter about the whistleblower. There is whistleblower protection for a reason. Everything this person put in the report has been proven to be accurate. Trump admitted he did what the whistleblower said he did. Everything reported has been confirmed in testimony by others. The name of the whistleblower should be protected by the law established. James texting us the whistleblower protection enhancement act of 2012 protects haveal employees who evidence of waste, fraud, or abuse. The media resists naming the was a blower. President trump and his allies say there is a gaping hole in the middle of the biggest news story in years, the name of the federal whistleblower who sparked the inquiry that threatens trumps presidency. They have called on News Organizations to reveal the name of the officer who raised concerns, yet despite knowledge of the individuals identity, reported. As not been personality such as rush limbaugh, the story did not get much traction. The answer appears to lie in several factors, concerns that revealing the name could jeopardize the whistleblower upon safety. And potential adverse reaction to such disclosure. There is also a question of whether the person testified in news accounts. Post, the New York Times, and Associated Press have reported the whistleblower is a male cia officer, but none have identified the individual. And thete Intelligence Community connection was an important part of the story because at least at that point, readers had Little Information by which to assess the value or veracity of the whistleblowers complaint. The ap has continued to keep the name under wraps because ap typically refrains from identifying whistleblowers. Lots there at washingtonpost. Com. In new york, on the republican line. Make sure you mute your television. Go ahead with your comment after doing that. Caller i am trying to find out why the democrats always try to do things sneaky in congress by whistleblower, hunter biden and biden and everything seems to be against this republican president since he took office 016. 1 shouldnt he have the right to face his accusers . Or do democrats only want to write to put every a right to put everything in basements so nothing is heard. Host assuming the whistleblower is eventually named publicly or by the committee, you think he should come to publicly testify before a committee . Caller without a doubt, yes, i do. Host thanks for your call. Salt lake city, democrats line. Caller hello. Host hi, there. Caller i think the whistleblower law was passed for a reason and i think if it is a truly bad law, it will be changed. Observing politics for 50 years, i majored in it in college. Foruld love i voted Richard Nixon the first time i voted. Ever since then, i have voted democratic. The reason is i have reached a conclusion and i would love for it to be disproved. It seems like too many corruptans are either before they are elected or become corrupt afterwards. Generally speaking, i have thated a conclusion also in general, republicans are for the rich and the democrats are for the people. I would love for republicans to prove me wrong by simply doing the right thing once in a while. Thanks. Host lisa in maryland on our democrats line. Your thoughts on the whistleblower should that individual be publicly named . Caller i am on the independent line. Host thank you for correcting me. Caller no, the whistleblowers identity should be protected. It is a federal law and it is going to affect future whistleblowers and the intelligence agency. Who is going to come forward and provide information if we are going to violate the laws . Lawlessoing to become a society. Please protect the whistleblower. , maryland,ville jeffrey, democrats line. Caller i think the whistleblower is protected by the law. I dont understand why President Trump and his Republican People dont want to face the truth of what is going on. I have never seen politics like this. What are they afraid of . Overont trump just give documents like they asked for . They need to stop this because this person that told the truth, everybody else in the hearings told the same way, but everybody saying republicans did not have a right to see what is going on. Why the republicans cannot realize the American People have a right i know trump is trump, he is going to be who he is. To get together as americans, me, you, and these americans calling in need to see the light. They want to put a blind eye to everything trump is doing, but they want to blame the democrats. Host one of those republicans in the basement is jim jordan on the oversight committee. Jim jordan may be moving committees. The headline at fox news, representative jordan willing to move to Intelligence Committee. Antonio, texas, john on the republican line. Caller good morning. Meli is the whistleblower, he traveled to it is imperative to know everything about this guy because he also write the i am the resistance article and writing the new book, anonymous. Host where have you confirmed he is authoring this book and the details of his background . Caller i have done all my own research and all signs point to eric caramelli. The interwebs is a great tool. Texas. Hat is john in we played you the comments from senator rand paul in kentucky calling for the media to do its job. The headline, Washington Examiner getting the tone of that, senator schumer blasts calls to identify the whistleblower. Here is what senator schumer had to say. [video clip] last night the president held including thelly junior senator from kentucky who urged the media to disclose the identity of the whistleblower. The president quickly prays to the senators praised the senators idea. I cannot stress how wrong this is. We have laws to protect the identity and safety of patriotic americans who come forward to protect the constitution. We have men years members on the other side of the aisle who spent their years defending whistleblowers and the laws that protect them. Where are they now . I was pleased to hear senator soon spoke out and said supply was must be protected senator thune spoke out and said whistleblowers must be protected. There should be bipartisan outrage at the public attempts by the president to expose the identity of a federal. Histleblower you dont get to determine when the laws apply and when they dont, whether you like with the whistleblower said or whether you dont. This whistleblower, whose complaint was deemed credible is protected by these statutes. Every Single Member of this body should stand up and say it is wrong to disclose his or her identity. Host here is the Washington Times reporting on some reaction from senator of senator rand pauls call to expose the whistleblower. Democrats demand gets democratic condemnation, mixed republican reaction. Rob portman, john soon, mitt romney were among the lawmakers who objected to revealing the whistleblowers name saying it would send a chilling message to other Government Employees and from that article, they have john kennedy from louisiana saying he brushed aside rhetoric of mr. Pauls about the identity of the whistleblower. I think if he or she has conviction, would step forward. It is amazing how many federal officials have little or no understanding of whistleblower laws. Do not allow ideological reality. S to distort in st. Joseph, michigan, joining us on the independent line. Arlene, go ahead. Sayer i am calling in to dont think the whistleblower outed toessarily to be everyone, but from reading his report of what he heard secondhand, which was made up by highpowered attorneys, to me, it sounds like he was being thatd with information and is why i think he needs to be investigated by more than the democratic party. Host kenneth in buffalo, new york, your thoughts on the importance of knowing the identity of the whistleblower. Caller yes. I am surprised cspan even asked that question and encourages people to speak out against it is the law of the land and there is a good reason for it. If you are in russia or countries in eastern europe, if or gocide to contradict against Vladimir Putin, for instance, pretty soon you will in aad or in siberia prison and we have not gotten to that point yet. They read the reason they want the whistleblowers name is so they can discredit him and or punishte against him to him for doing what he did in spite of the fact he says it has been corroborated by other witnesses, he will be punished and then who is going to want to step up and be a please stand who ishistleblowe going to want to step up and be a whistleblower again . That will be the end of whistleblowing in this country. That was initiated at the beginning because they saw a need for it. If that is the kind of country you want to have like Vladimir Putin where people get retaliated against for telling the truth, okay, i hope you like it. The to his point, Statement Released from the whistleblowers attorney a couple of weeks ago says in part, members of the media have a role in protecting those who lawfully expose suspected wrongdoing. Disclosure of the name of any person who may be suspected to be the whistleblower places that individual and their family in great physical danger. Any physical harm the individual and or their family suffers as a result of a disclosure means the individuals and publications reporting such names will be personally liable for that harm. Such behavior is at the pinnacle of irresponsibility and is intentionally reckless. To North Carolina on our republican line. Good morning to dwight. Caller i heard all of you talking and it does make sense about not having the whistleblowers name pronounced. Thank you. Host headline from the New York Times this morning on the status , where things are on the impeachment inquiry, this is the latest. Inoy tells of pressing kiev a quid pro quo. Aid tod says he linked the investigation. He told a top ukrainian official the country would most likely have to give President Trump what he wanted, a public pledge for investigations in order to unlock military aid. The disclosure from Gordon Sondland confirmed his role in laying out a quid pro quo to ukraine that conditioned the release of Security Assistance from the United States on the countrys willingness to say it was investigating former Vice President joseph biden and other democrats. That admission included in a Statement Released on tuesday directly contradicted his testimony to investigators when he said he never thought there was ever precondition on the aid. You can read all of that. Also from kurt volker, his testimony has been posted on our website. The former special envoy to ukraine. You can find that among others on our special impeachment page. Back to your calls. Ray in massachusetts on the independent line. Caller yes. How are you guys doing . Host doing fine, thanks. Caller the whistleblower law is the whistleblower law. Against as him and henchman like donald trump, a nazi like him, you have to protect this man or whoever they are, you have to protect them. Ont mark in philadelphia our democrats line, go ahead. Caller i think what is lost in this whole thing is that this is a Civil Service cia employee, detail at the white house. Gets detailed to the white house, blows the whistle on the chief executive officer, who is his boss, President Trump, arguably the most powerful man in the world. There you are a lowly cia employee blowing the whistle on the most powerful man in the world. Lets say the guy lives in Northern Virginia and they out his name. First of all, hi