President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, before boarding Marine One for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and then on to North Carolina. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Mark Zaid, the attorney for the whistleblower who sparked the Democrats' partisan impeachment inquiry, celebrated a "coup" against President Donald Trump just ten days after his inauguration in 2017. He also predicted impeachment. After Fox News' Gregg Re reported these tweets, sparking due outrage among conservatives, Zaid defended them.
"Those tweets were reflective and repeated the sentiments of millions of people," Zaid told Fox News. "I was referring to a completely lawful process of what President Trump would likely face as a result of stepping over the line, and that particularly whatever would happen would come about as a result of lawyers."
He also defended celebrating a "coup" against the president. "The coup comment referred to those working inside the administration who were already, just a week into office, standing up to him to enforce recognized rules of law," Zaid added.
The whistleblower's lawyer had celebrated a "coup" after acting Attorney General Sally Yates refused to defend President Trump's temporary travel ban. "Coup has started. As one falls, two more will take their place," he tweeted with the hashtags "rebellion" and "impeachment."
Statement on the Appointment of Dana Boente as Acting Attorney General: facebook.com/DonaldTrump/po…
#coup has started. As one falls, two more will take their place. #rebellion #impeachment
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Zaid predicted Trump's impeachment that year.
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He also predicted that CNN would play a role in impeachment.
Not shocking at all. I predict @CNN will play a key role in @realDonaldTrump not finishing out his full term as president twitter.com/thehill/status…
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Zaid's insistence that his tweets were merely "reflective" of "the sentiments of millions of people" is irrelevant. Many Americans firmly opposed Trump then and firmly oppose Trump now. Zaid has the free speech to say whatever he wants, but these tweets reveal a partisan bias that gives the lie to the suggestion that the whistleblower and his team were merely out to speak the truth.
The whistleblower met with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) before filing his report, and he has ties to former Vice President Joe Biden. RealClearInvestigations has ventured to name the whistleblower — a partisan Democrat operative working within government to bring down the president.
Last month, former acting CIA Director John E. McLaughlin declared, "Thank God for the 'deep state,'" when asked about the whistleblower pushing impeachment.
Americans are free to disagree with Trump's policies and his demeanor, but Zaid has defended the whistleblower's anonymity on the grounds that this partisan operative is providing an important public service by bringing the truth to light. In fact, the entire impeachment drive is a partisan effort to remove a sitting president, spearheaded by operatives working from within to undermine him.
McLaughlin may have been joking when he celebrated the "deep state," but Zaid's defense of his "coup" comment involves a bold-faced defense of the very thing Trump condemns as the "deep state" — unelected bureaucrats working to undermine the will of the American people.
Follow Tyler O'Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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