The Fifth Anniversary of Trump’s “Perfect Phone Call”

Trump, an Extortion Attempt, and My Decision to Blow the Whistle

Five years ago, I heard something that I knew was wrong.

On July 25^th, 2019, I overheard Donald Trump attempt to coerce newly elected Ukrainian president Zelenskyy into opening an investigation into Joe Biden as part of a wider plan to steal the 2020 presidential election. As a member of the National Security Council, I knew that this request was unconstitutional, illegal, unethical, and wrong. My decision to report the contents of that phone call set off a chain of events that led to Trump’s first impeachment and served as a reminder that no one is above the law - not even the president of the United States.

Five years later, we are faced with the prospect of a second Trump presidency. In recent weeks I’ve written about the implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity and the chilling effect it would have on potential whistleblowers. When coupled with the ideological vision and terrifying policy framework laid out in Project 2025, this ruling presents a dark potential future for the United States. However, there is another tool that a second Trump administration could use as a cudgel against the civil servants that choose to resist his illegal and unethical decisions: the job classification known as a “Schedule F Appointment”.