The whistleblower who complained about Trump’s telephone call to the Ukrainian President over Biden remained mysterious until the New York Times (NYT) released some crucial information around that personality. Following a backlash, the NYT defended its release of the information.

Zack Budryk had the story in The Hill.

The New York Times on Thursday defended the paper’s decision to disclose key details about the whistleblower whose complaint against President Trump has sparked an impeachment inquiry.

In a note published Thursday afternoon, the Times said it was aware of criticism of its decision to include what detractors have said could serve as identifying details and make the person a target for retaliation.

The newspaper wrote that it took the concerns to executive editor Dean Baquet, who argued that the information — including the fact that the whistleblower is allegedly a CIA officer — was necessary context to allow readers to draw conclusions about the whistleblower’s reliability.

“The president and some of his supporters have attacked the credibility of the whistle-blower, who has presented information that has touched off a landmark impeachment proceeding. The president himself has called the whistle-blower’s account a ‘political hack job,'” Baquet said.

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