(Photo Source: qz.com)

Who is the Trump whistleblower?

Republicans are demanding that the name of the Trump whistleblower, whose report triggered an impeachment inquiry, be released to the public. The whistleblower reported that President Trump had told the Ukrainian president on a phone call that the U.S. would withhold military aid unless Ukraine provided information damaging to former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden is currently running for president as a Democrat.

At a Trump rally, Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, demanded that the whistleblower go public.

“We also now know the name of the whistleblower. The whistleblower needs to come forward as a material witness because he worked for Joe Biden at the same time Hunter Biden was getting money from corrupt oligarchs,” Paul said. “I say tonight to the media, do your job and print his name.”

But not all Republicans agree. George Conway, a lawyer and conservative commentator, took to Twitter to call the attempts to out the whistleblower “thuggery.”

“The attempts to out the whistleblower, apart from being illegal and substantively pointless, amount to despicable thuggery being encouraged by the president of the United States,” Conway tweeted.

The whistleblower’s attorney, Andrew Bakaj, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the White House this week, urging the Trump administration to end their attempts to out the whistleblower. Bakaj said Trump administration officials were putting the whistleblower’s safety at risk.