Conservative media outlets, campaign employees and supporters of President Donald Trump, many of whom have attempted to out the Ukraine whistleblower, called attention on Wednesday to past tweets by one of the whistleblower’s attorneys. Mark Zaid, whose tweets are being cited as proof that he is in on an anti-Trump coup to take down the president, has responded to the firestorm.
Two tweets in particular have been receiving widespread attention on social media. For example:
The first tweet, which dates back to January, 30, 2017, shows Zaid quote-tweeting a tweet from CNN anchor Jake Tapper about President Trump’s firing of then-acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates because she refused to defend the Trump travel ban often referred to as the “Muslim ban.”
“#coup has started. First of many steps. #rebellion. #impeachment will follow ultimately,” Zaid tweeted in response.
Law&Crime reached out to Zaid for comment about the tweet.
“In the time since that tweet was posted, which was referring to lawyers serving as the force of good to prevent this president from doing harm to our democracy, I’ve probably represented more Republicans, including White House officials, than Democrats,” Zaid said. “This is nothing more than the continuing partisan deflection to desperately avoid discussing the substance of my client’s whistleblower complaint.”
The second tweet was posted on July 1, 2017. The back-and-forth began with Zaid saying that, since January 20, 2017 (the Trump Inauguration), he “would much rather be in Canada.”
“We’ll be great again when @realDonaldTrump leaves,” Zaid said.
“Mark are we really going to be able to get him out? He is dismantling our government department by department. It is really scary,” a Twitter user responded.
Zaid answered, “It’s very scary. We will get rid of him, and this country is strong enough to survive even him and his supporters. We have to.”
Law&Crime also asked Zaid to clarify what he meant by the “we will get rid of him” tweet.
“I referred to any lawful methods that exist, whether impeachment, if justified, or voting him out. My views are in sync with the majority of the country,” he said. “In fact, there are tweets I made that speak out against impeachment.”
[Image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images]