{"id":1316742,"date":"2019-11-14T23:48:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T06:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/polman-column-why-are-republicans-still-obsessed-with-the-whistleblower\/"},"modified":"2019-11-14T23:48:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T06:48:00","slug":"polman-column-why-are-republicans-still-obsessed-with-the-whistleblower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/polman-column-why-are-republicans-still-obsessed-with-the-whistleblower\/","title":{"rendered":"Polman column: Why are Republicans still obsessed with the whistleblower?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Dick Polman<\/strong>
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The public impeachment hearings were barely underway when Jim Jordan, the GOP\u2019s attack Chihuahua, began to yap about the whistleblower. Where\u2019s the whistleblower? Why can\u2019t we question the whistleblower? Bring in the whistleblower! Who\u2019s the whistleblower?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what passes these days for a Republican defense, as decreed by Donald Trump, who recently railed: \u201cThe whistleblower is a disgrace to our country. A disgrace. And the whistleblower, because of that, should be revealed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why are Trump and his authoritarian enablers so obsessed with outing the whistleblower, who is protected by a web of federal laws that safeguard the identities of patriotic dissenters?<\/p>\n

Indeed, why are they still obsessed with the whistleblower at all \u2014 given the fact that most of his (or her) August complaint has been solidly collaborated by documents and an ever-lengthening roster of sworn witnesses?<\/p>\n

Easy answer: Mobsters always obsess about \u201cfinks\u201d and \u201crats.\u201d When mobsters are caught red-handed, they try to target whoever dimed them out.<\/p>\n

Easy answer II: Trump always needs to have an enemy, and as he helplessly hurtles toward impeachment, he badly needs one now. Putting a face on the whistleblower would be chum for his sharks. (After all, he doesn\u2019t have much else to offer in terms of a defense.)<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s sharks in the House used to care (or claim to care) about protecting whistleblowers\u2019 identities. Back in 2016, Mark Meadows said: \u201cWhat I\u2019m not going to tolerate is retaliation on whistleblowers. I protect my whistleblowers.\u201d In 2017, Devin Nunes said: \u201cSources and methods are kept very confidential. We invite whistleblowers to come forward.\u201d But purging one\u2019s principles is de rigueur for anyone who wears the Trump armband.<\/p>\n

Federal statutes don\u2019t specifically bar a president or a member of Congress from outing the name of a whistleblower. But it\u2019s abundantly clear that the Whistleblower Protection Act and the Inspector General Act put strong emphasis on confidentiality.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one provision, 15 USC 12139(h): \u201cThe identity of any individual who makes a (complaint) may not be disclosed without such individual\u2019s consent.\u201d Here\u2019s another, intended specifically for the intelligence community\u2019s watchdog: \u201cThe Inspector General shall not, after receipt of a complaint or information from an employe, disclose the identity of the employee without the consent of the employee\u2026 \u201d And the complaint form filled out by the Trump whistleblower features this line: \u201cI understand that in handling my disclosure, the Inspector General shall not disclose my identity without my consent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing chills patriotic dissent more effectively than the threat of exposure \u2014 and the resulting danger of retaliation. And at least five Republican senators \u2014 Charles Grassley, Mitt Romney, Jodi Ernst, John Thune and Susan Collins \u2013 have actually vetted that obvious fact. Collins said earlier this month: \u201cWhistleblowers are entitled to protection under the law\u2026 To try to reveal the identity of this individual is contrary to the intent of the whistleblower law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alas, Trump\u2019s House henchmen care nothing about the rule of law and American values. Trashing the spirit of the whistleblower law \u2014 in effect, obsessing about the person who calls 911 instead of focusing on the reason for calling 911 \u2014 is just another Trumpist weapon of mass distraction.<\/p>\n

But the good news Wednesday was that the weapon ignited in Jim Jordan\u2019s hands. Late in the public hearing, he yapped anew: \u201cWe will never get the chance, we will never get the chance, to see the whistleblower raise his right hand, swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, we\u2019ll never get that chance, more importantly the American people will never get that chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Jordan\u2019s call was met with this delicious riposte, from Democrat Peter Welch: \u201cThank you. I\u2019d say to my colleague, I\u2019d be glad to have the person who started it all to come in and testify. President Trump is welcome to take a seat right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laughter, at Jordan\u2019s expense, rolled through the room. In grim times like these, mirth is a great tonic.<\/p>\n

Email Polman at dickpolman7@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dick Polman The public impeachment hearings were barely underway when Jim Jordan, the GOP\u2019s attack Chihuahua, began to yap about the whistleblower. Where\u2019s the whistleblower? Why can\u2019t we question the whistleblower? Bring in the whistleblower! Who\u2019s the whistleblower? That\u2019s what passes these days for a Republican defense, as decreed by Donald Trump, who recently railed: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1316742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 13:25:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}