Filmmaker Michael Moore launches TrumpiLeaks for anti-Trump whistleblowers

Filmmaker and liberal activist Michael Moore launched TrumpiLeaks on Tuesday (6 June) to allow whistleblowers to leak information about the president and his administration.

The website aims to "enable courageous whistleblowers" to privately communicate with Moore and his team.

Moore announced the launch in a letter published on Huffington Post, in which he claimed Trump thinks, acts and has stated that he is "above the law". The documentary filmmaker is a frequent critic of the president.

"Patriotic Americans in government, law enforcement or the private sector with knowledge of crimes, breaches of public trust and misconduct committed by Donald J Trump and his associates are needed to blow the whistle in the name of protecting the United States of America from tyranny," Moore wrote.

Moore's website is accepting information in the form of documents, photographs and audio or video recordings, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Sources can use tools Moore claims are secure to protect anonymity if the sources wishes to do so.

"The power and the importance of whistleblowing is part of the American tradition and as old as the republic itself," Moore continued. He also quoted Vice President Mike Pence, who testified his support for whistleblowers and the need to protect the First Amendment while he was a congressman.

"I know this is risky," he pleaded. "I knew we may get in trouble. But too much is at stake to play it safe. And along with the Founding Fathers, I've got your back."

Moore is working on a new documentary about the Trump administration called Fahrenheit 11/9, according to The Hill.

TrumpiLeaks was announced a day after the US Justice Department said a federal contractor had been arrested and charged with leaking classified documents from the National Security Agency, Reuters noted. The document, which was allegedly shared by 25-year-old Reality Leigh Winner with The Intercept, dealt with Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.

WikiLeaks issued a brief note about Moore's new website, saying it does not do enough to protect classified information. "Michael Moore's #TrumpiLeaks is not secure enough to protect sources with classified information but it is better than may newspapers," WikiLeaks tweeted.

According to Reuters, several US news organisations, such as The Washington Post, Huffington Post, ProPublica and The New York Times have links on their websites for sources to send information to journalists.