If you want to see a real-time example of how McCarthyism operates, look no further than the attempts by President Trump and his henchmen to malign the heroic whistleblower who, at real risk to himself, revealed the president’s attempts to employ U.S. military aid to blackmail Ukraine into incriminating former vice president Joe Biden and exonerating Russia on charges of hacking the 2016 election.

By now the identity of the whistleblower shouldn’t matter, given that everything this individual said has been verified by administration officials testifying under oath. Even Trump’s handpicked ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, just admitted that Trump sought a quid pro quo from Ukraine to help his campaign. Given that Sondland donated $1 million to the Trump inaugural committee, he can hardly be accused of being a Never Trumper, even if lickspittle Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) is gamely trying to suggest otherwise. But precisely because the evidence against Trump is so irrefutable, the president and his partisans feel compelled to smear his accusers. It’s the only play they have left.

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