So much for Grassley’s whistle-blower protections

Our longest-serving state senator likes to remind Iowans of his role in creating whistle-blower protections. Sen. Chuck Grassley has been noticeably silent while his Republican president has threatened to reveal and punish a whistle-blower. Now that President Donald Trump has retweeted a post that supposedly revealed the name of the whistle-blower who revealed the president's quid pro quo request to Ukraine, will our senior senator continue with his support of a president who has committed such flagrant violations of our laws and mores?

Will Grassley's allegiance to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican Party funders take precedence over his support for the protection of those civil servants who take great risks to reveal the illegal and unethical actions of politicians? Currently, Grassley's silence speaks volumes for his position going into the Senate's impeachment trial. Such a shame for a senator who used to be considered by many Iowans of both parties as a centrist who could represent Iowans of different perspectives. Obviously, that reputation ended long before now and his total capitulation to the Republican Party line is complete. Too bad that his support of his whistle-blower protection is in the past, too.

Walt Stephenson

Cedar Rapids