The following is an excerpt from Blaze Media’s daily Capitol Hill Brief email newsletter:

Last week, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, tweeted out the names and employers of a group of private citizen Trump donors in an effort to make people “think twice” about supporting the president. It’s still backfiring on him.

Now, the Trump donors outed by Castro have banded together as the “Texas 44” to raise money for the Trump 2020 campaign. "It looks like another million dollars is now headed to support the Trump 2020 campaign from those of us who were targeted," one said, "and other Texans, including Hispanics, incidentally, whose resolve to support [the president] is only strengthened by this personal attack."

In fact, one person named by Castro has even seen a massive apparent boost in business at his barbecue joint, where lines have reportedly been “out the door” and “around the block” since the tweet.

Back in Washington, multiple House Republicans are now calling for an ethics investigation into Castro’s actions, saying what he did “is antithetical to our principles and serves to suppress the free speech and free association rights of Americans.”

The day after posting the names and employers of private citizen Trump 2020 donors on Twitter, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, tried to defend his actions during an appearance on MSNBC Wednesday.

Here's how the exchange between Castro and MSNBC's Willie Geist went down:

Geist: "Congressman, as you look at this list, I know you say you didn't put their addresses out there. It's easy to find them. These people undoubtedly are already being harassed online or perhaps face-to-face, in some cases, they could be. What do you say to those people this morning who say, 'I made a campaign donation, and now I'm going to be harassed. I'm going to have people protesting outside my business or perhaps even my home'? What do you say to them? Do you want them to repent for their support for Donald Trump, or what do you want from them?"

Castro: "Well, the first thing is that I don't want anybody harassed or targeted ..."

Geist: "But they will be, because you put their names in public."

Castro: "Look, that was not my intention."

Geist: "But that's what will happen."

Castro: "These things are public. No, what I would like for them to do is think twice about supporting a guy who is fueling hate in this country."

Geist later asked Castro, "If you agree that rhetoric can lead to incitement, even if it just triggers one person to do something terrible, does it give you any pause about putting these peoples' names out in public?"

Castro answered that the names were "already out there" and that he didn't create the graphic.

Here's video of the exchange:

On Tuesday evening, Castro shared a graphic with the names and employers of dozens of Trump donors from his own congressional district. After facing backlash for "inviting harassment of these private citizens," he doubled down on the decision to share the graphic, saying that his tweet didn't contain "private or personal info" like addresses or phone numbers.

The following is an excerpt from Blaze Media’s daily Capitol Hill Brief email newsletter:

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas — the twin brother of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro — is taking criticism for doxxing Trump supporters after he tweeted out the names and employers of dozens of Trump donors from his own congressional district, saying, "Their contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as 'invaders.'"

“Targeting and harassing Americans because of their political beliefs is shameful and dangerous,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted. Trump 2020 campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said, “At the very least [Castro] is inviting harassment of these private citizens. At worst, he’s encouraging violence.”

Castro tried to defend his actions by saying that his tweet didn’t contain “private or personal info — no addresses or phone #, etc," and then doubled down on his initial sentiments about Donald Trump.

But the question remains: What sort of reaction did Castro expect to see from this? How are people’s employers not personal information? How did he expect people to react to a Democratic politician singling out private citizens in this way?

If Democrats are really concerned about public officials stirring up political violence, this is the exact kind of behavior they should be condemning.