Mark Zaid Reacts to an Attempt to Defame Him and His Whistleblower.
Sitting in his Maryland home's office, Mark Zaid, the attorney for the anonymous Mark Zaid whistleblower whose report sparked an impeachment investigation into President Trump, noticed a Google alert on his phone.
The alert pointed him toward a video featuring Fox News host Laura Ingraham, one of the network's prominent pro-Trump figures. The previous evening, on her show, Ingraham had implied that Zaid was a left-wing activist as he had previously “represented” Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton.
However, Zaid quickly identified misinformation regarding her claim. Zaid is a registered independent who has never supported Schumer or Clinton. Zaid told CNN Business that he shook his head and sighed upon seeing the episode. After that, he started working on a 13-part Twitter thread to correct the information. After about half an hour, he uploaded it.
To be clear, I have never served as Secretary Clinton's or Senator Schumer's representative. At all. Never, Zaid wrote on October 3. He also said that Ingraham was probably referring to his co-counsel, Andrew Bakaj, who worked as an intern for Clinton and Schumer nearly 20 years ago while in college.
A little while later that night, Ingraham made a hesitant correction. She admitted that she had confused Zaid for Bakaj.
However, Ingraham falsely claimed that Bakaj had worked for Clinton and Schumer, failing to disclose to her audience that the work in question was his college internship from almost twenty years ago.
Zaid told CNN Business, "It's a distorted, incomplete correction by omission." "What they never do is truly consider context, which is important. Yes, Andrew worked as an intern for Schumer and Clinton as an intern at a college nearly two decades ago. Anyone familiar with the workings of college internships can see that this information is meaningless and insignificant when it is added to the mix.
The whole scenario exemplifies Zaid's stated battle to rectify inaccurate information concerning his customer, his company, and himself. It also reflected the readiness of some to ignore the facts that contradict their version of events.
Who is Mark Zaid?
Mark S. Zaid is a lawyer in Washington, D.C., with expertise in crisis management and creatively resolving both straightforward and intricate administrative and legal cases involving international law, national security, Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts, and foreign sovereign and diplomatic immunity.
Through his practice, Mr. Zaid frequently represents current and former federal employees, including media members, defense contractors, intelligence and military officers, Mark Zaid whistleblowers, and others who have been wronged, or who are under investigation by US government agencies or foreign governments.
He has been named a Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer every year since 2009, and Washingtonian Magazine has dubbed him a "Best Lawyer" on multiple occasions for his work pertaining to national security and Mark Zaid whistleblower issues. He was also listed as one of D.C.'s Most Influential People in 2021 by the magazine.
He was awarded "Attorney of the Year" by the Washington Metropolitan Employment Lawyers Association in 2020 in recognition of his efforts in the Intelligence Community Whistleblower's case.