Nikki Haley Breaks With Trump Administration: ‘We Should Always Protect Whistleblowers’
As President Donald Trump and a majority of his top Republican allies continue their calls for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff to reveal the identity of the Ukraine phone call whistleblower, former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley countered this position on Thursday, stating that whistleblowers should always be afforded protection.
According to The Hill, Haley, one of few former Trump appointees who remains in the president’s good graces, made a strong case about the importance of protecting anonymous whistleblowers during a Thursday interview on CNN, though she did stress that whistleblowers also need to follow the rules.
“I mean, I believe in whistleblower laws. I think you have to protect a whistleblower, and then I think, in turn, the whistleblower has to abide by those laws and the fact that they don’t allow any sort of partisan leaking or anything like that to have happen,” Haley said.
She added that it’s unclear whether or not the whistleblower was involved in any partisan leaks.
Doubling down on her strong and rare break from a majority of Trump’s allies, Haley was asked if her stance on protecting whistleblowers was, in fact, a disagreement with Trump’s recent calls.
“You can call it disagreeing,” she said.
Aside from that disagreement, Haley mostly remained in Trump’s camp concerning the president’s overall thoughts on the impeachment investigation, which was sparked after an anonymous whistleblower claimed a July 25 phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president included a potential quid pro quo exchange.
“I think he feels like this truly is a witch hunt,” Haley said. “And so he has his back up, and he thinks that this is all a way for y’all to trick everybody into saying something. I just know how he thinks.”
Before the start of the public portion of the impeachment investigation testimonies, House Republicans sent a list of requested witnesses to Schiff, one of which included the anonymous whistleblower. Schiff swiftly denied the request, citing a need to protect the whistleblower’s identity and also claimed that the whistleblower’s level of information was no longer necessary, as other witnesses in the investigation have provided more direct knowledge of what happened between Trump and Ukraine.
Haley’s break with the White House and other top Republicans came on the heels of speculation that her new book, With All Due Respect: Defending America With Grit And Grace, was a type of “audition” to convince the president to add her to the 2020 ticket in place of current Vice President Mike Pence.
I’m excited for the release of “With All Due Respect” this week. It is a personal book about my experiences in life and government. I hope you will check it out & come see us on our book tour! To order yours today and to come see us on the road visit https://t.co/IQq8YXBrtT ???? pic.twitter.com/dYbIKAfUMO
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) November 10, 2019
As The Inquisitr previously reported, earlier this week, Haley firmly denied that she was angling for a VP spot and applauded Pence as the right person to continue serving with the president into a possible second term.
