Trump impeachment: Democrats considering masking identity of whistleblower from president’s allies

House Democrats are weighing extraordinary steps to secure testimony from a whistleblower whose complaint prompted an impeachment inquiry, masking his identity to prevent Donald Trump’s congressional allies from exposing the individual, according to three officials familiar with the deliberations.

The steps under consideration include having the whistleblower testify from a remote location and obscuring the individual’s appearance and voice, these officials said.

The efforts reflect the deepening distrust between Democrats running the impeachment inquiry of Mr Trump and their GOP colleagues they see as fully invested in defending a president who has attacked the whistleblower’s credibility and demanded absolute loyalty from Republicans.

“There are lots of different protocols and procedures we’re looking into to find out what works and doesn’t work to protect the identity of the whistleblower,” said an official familiar with the talks. “That is paramount.”

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly.

Negotiations over the whistleblower’s testimony come as House Democrats are trying to unearth as much evidence as possible before they move towards impeachment.

The whistleblower’s complaint centred on Trump’s 25 July call pressing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, and his son Hunter.

On Tuesday, the House Intelligence Committee will question Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union.

The whistleblower reported that Mr Sondland met with Mr Zelensky to give “advice” about how to “navigate” Mr Trump’s demands, working behind the scenes to carry out the president’s wishes in a country that’s not a member of the European Union.

In text messages provided to Congress, Mr Sondland insisted that Mr Trump’s decision to withhold nearly $400m (£325m) in military aid to Ukraine was not a quid pro quo – as diplomat Bill Taylor had feared.

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