Lawyer for Trump impeachment whistleblower rips Dems for impugning FBI whistleblowers

The former counsel for one of the whistleblowers whose claims led to the first impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in 2019 has decried Democrats for questioning the legitimacy of FBI whistleblowers who have come forward alleging political bias within the bureau.

"I am so tired of partisan hypocrisy by Members of Congress challenging #whistleblower status. Was wrong in 2019 when GOP did it. Wrong when DEM is doing it now," attorney Mark Zaid tweeted on Thursday. "We need bi-partisan support for #WBers & adequate protection."

Included in Zaid's post was a link to a Mediaite article that highlighted comments from Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz insisting that three whistleblowers testifying before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Government did not legitimately qualify as whistleblowers.

"They’ve been determined by the agency that they are not whistleblowers!" Wasserman Schultz fumed at Chairman Jim Jordan. "These are not whistleblowers! Are you deciding that they’re whistleblowers?"

Also during the hearing, New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman asked FBI whistleblowers Stephen Friend and Garret O'Boyle if they had received financial support from a former Trump advisor. Both affirmed that they had received funds from Patel.

A spokesperson for Patel confirmed to Just the News that the whistleblowers received funds via The Kash Foundation, which Patel runs.

Friend, in particular, noted that the bureau had suspended him without pay and that Kash Patel had offered him assistance. He later spoke out against Goldman for insinuating that he would risk his career by blowing the whistle in the hopes of receiving such assistance.

"I think you just have to look at the facts in this: I gave up a very lucrative salary, my dream career, a career that I pursued for a long time to get, and I did so," he said Thursday on the "Just the News, No Noise" television show. "And if you think that I did that, in the hopes that I would receive a small donation several months later from a gentleman who I've never met in my entire life, I think that you're deluding yourself."

O'Boyle and Friend appeared alongside fellow whistleblower Marcus Allen. The three have come forward with claims of retaliation by the bureau after they either questioned official narratives from the top or raised concerns about FBI practices in politically sensitive cases.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.