Evidently within the Washington Beltway the identity of the anti-Trump “whistleblower” — the hack who submitted a complaint over President Donald Trump’s July 25 phone call with the president of Ukraine — has been an open secret for some time. However, due to House Democrat demands that the whistleblower remain anonymous in order to “protect” him from Trump, the mainstream media has dutifully complied. And House Republicans’ hands have largely been tied by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who has forbidden public comments on the specifics of the closed-door hearings.

Thanks to reporting from RealClearInvestigations, however, the secret is out: The anonymous “whistleblower” is likely a 33-year-old government official named Eric Ciaramella. When the Washington Examiner sought to verify the “whistleblower’s” identity with House Republicans, none were willing to give a straightforward confirmation, but several did offer tacit approval.

Tellingly, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) stated, “Well, as far as that particular person, regardless of whether or not he’s a whistleblower, he apparently worked for [former CIA Director John] Brennan. He worked for H.R. McMaster. He worked for [Joe] Biden. He was tasked to the National Security Council on Ukraine.” Gohmert then added, “And, gee, sounds like he’s got bigger problems than being a whistleblower, regardless of whether he is or not.”

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) suggested that reporters should ask Schiff. “I can’t tell you what happens in the depositions,” he said, “but I can tell you there’s one person in one’s group of staff members who know who the whistleblower is and that is Adam Schiff, and so you need to ask him whether this guy is the real deal.” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) echoed Meadows, stating, “Hey, you need to ask Adam Schiff. Don’t ask me.” And Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) made it clear that while many Republicans strongly suspect that Ciaramella is the whistleblower, only Schiff can confirm it.

With the revelation that Ciaramella is most likely the “whistleblower,” the evidence of this being another deep-state coup attempt is strengthened. Ciaramella, says RealClearInvestigations, is “a registered Democrat held over from the Obama White House, previously worked with former Vice President Joe Biden and former CIA Director John Brennan, [and is] a vocal critic of Trump who helped initiate the Russia ‘collusion’ investigation of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.” He also worked with a DNC “operative who dug up dirt on the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.”

Ciaramella worked in the Trump White House until June 2017, when he left and returned to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, after “he was accused of working against Trump and leaking against Trump,” a former NSC official claimed. Another NCS official said that Ciaramella “didn’t exactly hide his passion with respect to what he thought was the right thing to do with Ukraine and Russia, and his views were at odds with the president’s policies.”

Furthermore, Schiff is more deeply tied to the plot than was previously known. Indeed, RealClearInvestigations reports, “Earlier this year, Schiff recruited two of Ciaramella’s closest allies at the NSC — both whom were also Obama holdovers — to join his committee staff. He hired one, Sean Misko, in August — the same month the whistleblower complaint was filed.” Is it any wonder Democrats have been so adamant over keeping the identity of the “whistleblower” secret?

Again, House Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Schiff, have orchestrated this impeachment charade in a secretive manner in order to control the political narrative surrounding it. Their vote to approve a resolution this morning does little to change that.