On Sunday, President Trump spoke to reporters outside the White House, as he does all the time even though they pretend the administration doesn’t answer questions, and during the Q&A (which stands for Questions and Answers, media people, meaning you ask them and he answers them), he called out CNN for withholding info about the whistleblower, to the detriment of the country.
“They know who it is! You know who it is, you just don’t want to report it. CNN knows who it is, but you don’t want to report it. And, you know, you’d be doing the public a service if you did,” said to the reporters gathered on the White House lawn.
“The whistleblower gave a very inaccurate report, and as you know, certain of the media released information about a man that they said is the whistleblower. I don’t know if that’s true or not,” said Trump, listing people the whistleblower was allegedly associated with. “He was like a big anti-Trump person, hated Trump, and they said terrible things! Now I don’t know if that’s true or not but that was reported by some of the media, you you’ll have to find out.”
“I don’t know why the media’s not on it,” he said. “He gave a report, he or she but according to the newspapers it’s a he. They think they know, they know who it is.”
“You know who it is, you just don’t want to report it,” said Trump looking right at the reporters. Then he pointed directly to a reporter and said “CNN knows who it is, you you don’t want to report it.”
“And you know, you’d be doing the public a service if you did,” he said.
That is indisputable. Like most things, you have to weigh pros and cons, and whether something to the detriment of an individual is outweighed by the benefit it is to society. Anonymity is important in these kinds of reports in government, so people don’t face retribution from their bosses when they file one. But when the so-called “whistleblower” report is the center of an impeachment, and the question is of international significance, and the validity of the report and whether it was fabricated or planted is very much part of the debate, it’s obvious that revealing the identity would work to everyone’s benefit, including the whistleblower his or her self.
You know, unless they actually ARE a liar.