Can the president legally out a whistleblower?

Syracuse University News
Nov 7 · 2 min read

Syracuse, NY… Todd Dickey, a Syracuse University faculty member who researches issues around whistleblowers is available to speak to media on the ongoing issues around revealing the identity of the person whose report sparked the current impeachment inquiry into Pres. Trump.

Prof. Dickey, an assistant professor at the Maxwell School of Public Policy at Syracuse University studies and teaches about government labor relations and human resources. He has studied whistleblowing — especially among government workers — and can offer insight and answers on this issue.

This week, both the President and government officials have continued to ask for the identity of the whistleblower to be revealed. When asked if it was illegal for the president to be calling for punishment of or revealing the whistleblower’s identify, Prof. Dickey said the government rules are unclear.

“When we examine the prohibitive personal practices and the protection against retaliation of employees who engage in a protective activity, we see that the language for intelligence officials reveals that the inspector general is explicitly prohibited from revealing their identity,” said Dickey.

“While there is always a question of what the president can or cannot do while in office, this moment is a stress test on government institutions. It could be technically legal but we would never think that a president would engage in the behavior of outing a whistleblower,” said Dickey

Syracuse University News
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