October 15, 2019

The "whistleblower" used to be so important, but now it's whistleblower? There's someone called the "whistleblower" that we should care about? Don't be silly!



Here's something I wrote on October 11th, when the news was about the whistleblower's request testify to Congress in writing and not in person in order to protect his personal safety:
Safety is important, but what about our interest in assessing this person's credibility? I want to look the person in the face and hear the voice. Is the person's identity to be kept secret, so that there's no opportunity to consider bias and political motivation? Why are we bothering with this person at all when we have the transcript of the famous telephone call? If it's not to put a face on the accusation, do we even care?
Now the Democrats seem to have arrived at my question why are we bothering with this person at all when we have the transcript. But Trump gives the reason to bother. The credibility of the whistleblower is an issue that he likes and that the Democrats say is nothing.

76 comments:

rhhardin said...

Whistleblower is one of the funny compound nouns, like evildoer.

They lack verbs, to whistleblow and to evildo.

Pianoman said...

Compare and contrast the Schiff whistleblower with the CNN/Project Veritas whistleblower ....

Jersey Fled said...

Remember when the Democrat's star witness was Mueller?

How did that go.

Fernandinande said...

I was ridin' No 9 heading south from Caroline
I heard that lonesome whistle blow
Got in trouble had to roam left my gal and left my home
I heard that lonesome whistle blow

Just a kid acting smart I went and broke my darling's heart
I guess I was too young to know
They took me off to Georgia Main locked me to a ball and chain
I heard that lonesome whistle blow

Beasts of England said...

DJT: Candygram for Schiff!

AS: Me Schiff.

DJT: Sign please.

AS: Schiff like candy...

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

He must be impeached - for the crimes the democrats commit.

sunsong said...

donald ONLY serves himself. He is his one and only interest.

So, of course, he wants to talk about whistleblower...let him...

Michael The Magnificent said...

The whistleblower has no useful (first-hand) information on Trump, but does have first-hand knowledge of the cabal of coup plotters. And for this reason, the whistleblower needs to be questioned and not forgotten.

wild chicken said...

Oh, now it's something something Bolton...

Hagar said...

If the "whistleblower" is identified, not to mention made to testify in public, there will be considerable interest in how he/she/it/they came to decide to "blow the whistle," and that is something the Democrats do not want any disclosure of at all.

Ralph L said...

Someone who spews untruths shouldn't get away with doing it anonymously, whether it's the whistleblower or his sources.

JAORE said...

There is also increasing evidence that Schiff, or at least his staff, were instrumental in the tale of the whistle blower. Perhaps Schiff can not stand scrutiny of that person and his ties to Schiff and/or Biden.

The Kavannaugh accusers are instructive here. When they generated salacious headlines they were revered. As the stories fell apart, feh, who needs them?

Triangle Man said...

In a typical whistleblower case, the identity or credibility is irrelevant beyond an initial evaluation of whether an investigation is needed. If a doc is defrauding Medicare or an accountant is cooking the books, then the role of the whistleblower is merely to bring the crime to the attention of the relevant authority. The forensic protectionists father the evidence and build the case and hand it over to prosecutors who lick them up.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The media and the democrats dropped the word "whistle blower" and they thought it would be a winner. they thought the very word would bring Trump to his knees.

It did with their cult. The cult love words like "Whistle-blower". They get all juicy inside.

The rest of us imagine Nazi finks.

Kevin said...

It’s “whistleblowers” all the way down.

Mike Sylwester said...

I served 14 years in the US Air Force.

There we were taught that we should raise concerns, complaints and accusations up through the chain of command. First you discuss the matter with your immediate supervisor.

If you cannot resolve the matter with your immediate supervisor, then you tell him that you will raise the matter with his supervisor. And so forth.

There might be some matters that cannot be resolved through the chain of command. A common example is that the chain of command itself is corruptly causing the problem. In such cases, you may report the matter to your inspector general.

* Your chain of command is your first remedy.

* Your inspector general is your second resort.

If you report a matter to your Inspector General, then he will ask whether you have raised your concern first to your chain of command -- and if so, then why not.

------

Did either of these two whistleblowers raise their complaints first to their immediate supervisors? If no, then why not?

Did the Intelligence Community Inspector General ask either whistleblower whether the matter was raised first to the immediate supervisor?

David Begley said...

Old Hollywood trick. If a character is out of favor or wants too much money or is a pain to work with, then just kill him off before the next season starts.

Think of this whole impeachment thing as a TV show and you can understand it better.

roesch/voltaire said...

Looks like one of the whistleblowers was Bolton, who would have guessed?

Mike Sylwester said...

It seems that the first whistleblower -- the one who admits he does not have first-hand knowledge of Trump's phone conversation with the Ukrainian President -- is a CIA analyst who had been assigned to advise Vice President Biden about Ukraine, since Biden had been assigned to be President Obama's "point man" on Ukraine.

That assignment of the first whistleblower ended when Vice President Biden left office and was replaced by Vice President Pence. That's why the first whistleblower was not allowed access to the phone conversation between President Trump and the Ukrainian President.

I speculate that the second whistleblower was another CIA analyst, likewise specializing in Ukraine, who replaced the first whistleblower as an advisor to the White House. That is why the second whistleblower was allowed to listen to the phone conversation between the two Presidents.

-------

The first whistleblower must have accompanied Vice President Biden to Ukraine and provided information and advise to Biden in the situation where Biden pressured the Ukrainian Government to fire the Ukrainian President. In particular, the first whistleblower must have provided to Biden the necessary arguments and justifications that the prosecutor should be fired.

iowan2 said...

How many examples are needed to finally come to the conclusion, Democrat Leadership has no interest in governance. Only getting and exercising power. I can't think of a single principle Democrats won't violate to get power. None.

MayBee said...

The Democrats find a new way to continue their slide away from due process.

Fandor said...

The gang that couldn't shoot straight has a new home and Darth Vader is now revealed to be Adam Schiff.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I try to keep up with the news from all perspectives. I don't want to be caught in a bubble. I was reading this article from Politico about Trump using conspiracy theories. I read this paragraph in the beginning of the article:

[1]In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has incorrectly claimed whistleblower rules were changed immediately before the whistleblower filed his or her complaint. [2]He’s resurrected the myth that Democrats planted a spy inside his 2016 presidential campaign.[3] And he’s promulgated the idea that the whistleblower is a partisan operative and part of the “deep state” of federal government employees out to get him.

But what is the point of reading different views if they are just going to lie and mislead. I put the numbers in there.

1. The rules were changed to allow hearsay shortly after the complaint was filed. The IG has not explained why.

2. Is it even debatable the FBI ran human sources at the Trump campaign. Mifsud, the Turkish Honeypot, Australian Ambassador and I think one other.

3. The Gossipe is partisan (even the IG had to acknowledge that) and clearly out to get Trump. One can argue he is rightfully out to get Trump or not but he is clearly out to get him.

What a crappy time for politics.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'd like to Learn more about Hunter Biden's $50,000 a month income from a Ukrainian energy company, that just so happened to begin after Joe Biden became Vice President.

*Shut up - said the media. *That's illegal to know -said the corrupt CIA/deep state.

Wince said...

What do you call a whistleblow with a vocal fry?

A fry-blower?

alanc709 said...

"sunsong said...
donald ONLY serves himself. He is his one and only interest.

So, of course, he wants to talk about whistleblower...let him..."

You live altruistically, right? Never think of yourself, only serving others? SJW's also live like that, don't they? Not trying to foment hate, only trying to bring people together. Must be nice on your planet.

Hagar said...

@Mike Sylwester,

The cain of command is the "whistleblower."

Hagar said...

Freudian slip?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Democrats want to make it illegal to criticize their own corruption and crime.

So fist, we must ban the words "Hillary Clinton" and "Biden family"

CWJ said...

"donald ONLY serves himself. He is his one and only interest."

Funny. I could have swore he was the Democrats only interest.

Mike Sylwester said...

The forensic protectionists father the evidence and build the case and hand it over to prosecutors who lick them up.

Funny typos

iowan2 said...

From the Washington Examiner.
Schiff has hired two NSC staffers attached to the White House in February, and August 2019 . Both worked alongside the whistle gossiper

Abigail Grace, who worked at the NSC until 2018, was hired in February, while Sean Misko, an NSC aide until 2017, joined Schiff's committee staff in August, the same month the whistleblower submitted his complaint.

tcrosse said...

They lack verbs, to whistleblow and to evildo.

Or to motherfuck.

iowan2 said...

Why has the Senate gone mute? Grahmn should have the whistle gossiper in the que to interview in public. All of these people being interviewed in secret should be walking over to the senate side and testify in public. Public statements carry wait.
Democrats have leaked a 20 second snipet, of something from a 10 hour interview. To believe that, identifies true idiots

roesch/voltaire said...

Look all the whistleblowers had to do was listen to the warnings that Bolton put out about the underhanded deals going on with Trump and Ukraine; the call was just the tip of the iceberg and easy to call out.

Michael K said...

Think of this whole impeachment thing as a TV show and you can understand it better.

Of course it's a TV show. That is the point,. There are millions who get all their news from TV. That is the point of all this.

This is aimed at middle aged women who watch TV all day.

iowan2 said...

The CIA IG needs to be interviewed. Schiffs lackeys, slipped a bit when he was trying to deflect about the Gossiper contancting him. He said, the gossiper was frustrated with how slow his complaint was being handled at the CIA. ( I think I heard him mumble IG) regardless, according to Schiffs office, the Gossiper did go to the CIA. Maybe the CIA IG. Was not getting a response, (because the complaint has nothing to do with the Intelligence Community) I'm guessing the CIA refused to act, because they had no jurisdiction. or refused to label it Urgent and Credible tripping the Congressional notification. Schiff probably asked the IC IG to take the complaint before it was written.

This all centers on the statute as written by congress, requires IC complaints that reach the level of Urgent and Credible shall be forwarded to congress.

That is why Schiff needed the Gossiper to me a member of the IC. White House Staff, doing the same, would have never tripped the congressional notification wire.

rehajm said...

Funny. I could have swore he was the Democrats only interest.

Certainly true of some of em:

Guns will be the central topic in the 2020 Democratic nomination race today,” he said. “The Giffords PAC has paired up with MSNBC, they’ve got a guns town hall in Las Vegas, 10 candidates will be showing up there throughout the day.”

“I don’t care about the MCNBC event, okay?” Zucker responded. “I don’t care about them. Let’s just stay very focused on impeachment and everything that happens today because, look, you’re going to be coming on at 3 o’clock. Trump is at two.”

Drago said...

r/v: "Look all the whistleblowers had to do was listen to the warnings that Bolton put out about the underhanded deals going on with Trump and Ukraine;"

"underhanded deals going on with Trump and Ukraine"

LOL

"tip of the iceberg"

Riiiiiight. There's that hidden "iceberg" again.

Its always whats going to cone out. This time for sure!! This time we just know it will all come out!!

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

We're already at the stage where the whole tattered farce is about to fly apart. I knew it couldn't last long but you would think a group of professional politicians could have put something better than this together. Their problem is that they were counting on the media to make this thing work, that the WaPo and the NYT would still have enough credibility to get them over the finish line. Alas, the hip, tech-savvy Democrats still think they're living in a pre-Internet age.

Sebastian said...

"what about our interest in assessing this person's credibility?"

What about, what about, what about? Well, what about it? "Our" interest?

It's sad they don't care about our interest! It's terrible! Why, oh why, are they doing this?

But, but, maybe they don't give a damn about our interest and credibility and petty bourgeois sensibilities? Maybe they really, really pursue power by any means necessary, rules and principles be damned? Maybe even Althouse will stop what-abouting and recognize they despise her as well?

Sebastian said...

"Did either of these two whistleblowers raise their complaints first to their immediate supervisors? If no, then why not?

Did the Intelligence Community Inspector General ask either whistleblower whether the matter was raised first to the immediate supervisor?"

Not a criticism of Mike, of course, but: this still assumes we are dealing with "whistleblowing."

rcocean said...

They don't want to show the W-B because we'll find out he's a Democrat Partisan and tied up with Brennan and/or Clapper. We need to know who is contact on the NSC are though, because they've leaked confidential info and broken the law.

Big Mike said...

One of our most basic legal rights is the right to confront your accuser. Those of us paying attention have seen this right rudely dumped into the waste basket in the case of campus Title IX hearings. Now the the Democrats propose to abrogate this fundamental right for something as important as impeachment of the President of the United States. And I guess for all the rest of us when it suits their fancy.

Meanwhile I find it inconceivable that his identity is not already known to hundreds of Washington insiders, and the whistleblower must know that. This alleged fear of being exposed is part of a Democrat scam, nothing more.

rcocean said...

Its been shown the first W-B broke the rules and doesn't deserve W-B protection. Also, that the CIA IG is an Obama plant who changed the rules and the W-B form so 2nd Hand Gossip could be used on the W-B form. Trump is surrounded by traitors. Dramatic overstatement - but just barely.

rcocean said...

BTW, how can you blow and whistle and remain unknown? Blowing a whistle attracts attention and causes people to come running. Why are blowing that whistle? What's the danger? And who are you?

Tommy Duncan said...

Perhaps the press should ask the question "if Trump is as corrupt, evil and guilty as the Democrats claim, why haven't they impeached him?"

By not impeaching Trump aren't the Democrats the real problem here?

David Begley said...

Doesn’t the US Constitution require one the right to confront one’s accuser?

Any former constitutional law professors here? Not talking about a lecturer in law at Chicago. I mean a real tenured and published professor who held an endowed chair.

narayanan said...

Big Mike said...
One of our most basic legal rights is the right to confront your accuser.
___________________
Very true : in this case it is D's in Congress. and they don't want to be confronted.

absent the whistleblower where is the need for investigation/inquiry?

Evidence has been placed before all >>>>>>>> the transcript?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Moving goalposts.

Michael K said...

More evidence this is a TV show.

The Democrats have promised that material before but failed to deliver. Last year, Schiff claimed he had proof of Trump’s malfeasance, but he couldn’t deliver. Jerry Nadler, chair of the Judiciary Committee, tried to find something — anything — but failed and turned his committee into a partisan food fight. The Democrats and their media allies had counted on Robert Mueller, but that didn’t work out, either. None of these failures means the Democrats, Washington Post, or New York Times won’t find more compelling evidence this time, but the track record is not encouraging.

So far, all they’ve got is a questionable phone call from the president to his Ukrainian counterpart, a pause in aid to Ukraine (which Kyiv didn’t know about and had no practical effect), and a hyperbolic, second-hand complaint from an anonymous CIA operative.


It's all for middle aged women who get their news from TV.

tim in vermont said...

"One of our most basic legal rights is the right to confront your accuser. “

A pre-dawn raid on one of Trump’s lawyers and the sack of his client files was kind of a clue that Democrats care little for traditional legal rights.

tim in vermont said...

Bolton is still butt hurt that we aren’t in a hot war with Iran and a hot war with Turkey right now.

How. does it feel for you “liberals” to constantly be. taking the side of neocon war mongers. Oh... that’s right! You wanted Hillary to be POTUS.

Her personal law firm went right to the Russians and got them to make. up dirt on Trump. Different! Because reasons!

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Are you going
To the Washington country fair?
Where the whistleblower's credibility
Is borderline?

the answer, my friend, is whistleblowin' in the wind

WK said...

rcocean said...
BTW, how can you blow and whistle and remain unknown?

Perhaps it is a dog whistle....

tim in vermont said...

The last of the Louisiana state election numbers are in and it's not pretty for the Democrats. Not only does its moderate Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, face a runoff as noted here, the state Senate has taken a supermajority. And a whole bunch of key state offices went squarely to Republicans. - American Thinker

#IMPEACH!

stevew said...

... a pause in aid to Ukraine (which Kyiv didn’t know about and had no practical effect)...

Worst quid pro quo, EVAH!

iowan2 said...

Congressman Gates was kicked out of yesterdays secret interviews. Gates is a member of the Judiciary. The Chair of the Judiciary announced that an Impeachment inquiry had been launced. By the Chairman of the Judiciary announcing the launching of the Impeachment inquiry, Gates would be on a committee that is part of the impeachment inquiry.

So how can members of the Judiciary committee be excluded?

Yancey Ward said...

There are probably a lot issues for the Democrats with regards to the "whistleblower".

First, he had no first-hand knowledge- this was demonstrated by all the misinformation in the complaint.

Second, he probably has been caught out lying in the original complaint that was filed and then later amended by with the help of the ICIG and Schiff's staff.

Third, he really isn't a whistleblower, and the information he and the ICIG passed along is actually highly classified- you can't leak classified information as a whistleblower if the information really doesn't qualify- in this case, it doesn't deal with anything in the intelligence agencies and wrongdoing in those agencies. The man faces prosecution.

Fourth, he knows everyone who was involved in fashioning this complaint, and will be question on it under oath during cross- all the evidence to date suggests that Schiff and his staff were deeply involved long before the complaint was filed.

narciso said...

btw that apocryphal reference to Bolton by hill, doesn't make sense, Bolton communicated with zelensky, mostly about certain tech they were selling to the chinese

readering said...

Trump focus on whistleblower getting to be like drunk looking for his keys under street light.

Sam L. said...

Dems will NOT show their "whistleblower" because their "Ace in the hole" will be found to be a Joker...or a deuce".

bbkingfish said...

I'm thinking that the main reason the Dems aren't fixated on the whistleblower seems pretty obvious. That is, by now, half the Trump Administration is spilling all the particulars in sworn depositions before the House Intelligence Committee.

Yovanovitch, Hill, Sondland, McKinney, Kent, Perry...could Bolton be next? Or maybe Taylor? Also missing from this discussion are names like Giuliani, Parnas, Fruman, Kukushkin, with many, many more to follow.

With all this rock 'em-sock 'em impeachment action, the whistleblower isn't above-the-fold news anymore. Never send to know for whom the whistle blows; It blows for thee.

Seeing Red said...

sunsong said...
donald ONLY serves himself. He is his one and only interest.

And the middle class is benefiting:

Via Insty: ...But not a word of this is true, according to new Census Bureau data on the incomes of America’s middle class. This study by former Census Bureau researchers and now statisticians at Sentier Research has found gigantic income gains for the middle class under Trump. The median or average-income family has seen a gain of $5,003 since Trump came into office. Median family income is now (August 2019) $65,976, up from about $61,000 when he entered office (January 2017)....

Michael K said...


Blogger bbkingfish said...

I'm thinking that the main reason the Dems aren't fixated on the whistleblower seems pretty obvious. That is, by now, half the Trump Administration is spilling all the particulars in sworn depositions before the House Intelligence Committee.


Hope springs eternal. Has it occurred to you that, if the juicy details were being revealed, Schitt would have the TV cameras on closeups ?

narciso said...

well the gossiper was biden's Sherpa, on his many trips to Ukraine, he worked with Ukrainian politicians like bielkova, and the atlantic council which also has ties to crowdstrike, his atty mark zaid, helped sandbag the previous ig nominee sharpley, so you could get a cabal player like Atkinson, burisma is one of those multiple nesting dolls as mr z, is only the middle one, responsive to Russia, the the inner one kolomoisky financed most of the reform block from tymochenko to zalensky

Narr said...

Lefties yesterday: John Bolton, Rightwingcryptofascistracistwarmongeringlickspittle.

Today: John Bolton, Patriot

Narr
It is to laugh

CWJ said...

"Trump focus on whistleblower getting to be like drunk looking for his keys under street light."

This comment is just sad.

traditionalguy said...

Matt Taibbi wrote a good analysis of what real whistleblowers usually get from the CIA. He shows that this latest Trump slander must have been done by the CIA itself in cooperation with Dems and their owned Media. We are watching an Intelligence Agencies Coup to Remove President Trump, Act 2, scene 3.

bbkingfish said...

Commenter Michael K says...

" Has it occurred to you that, if the juicy details were being revealed, Schitt would have the TV cameras on closeups ?"

You are sure Hill testified for 10 hours yesterday and said nothing? I think it more likely that she sang like a bird.

You think that all the aforementioned songbirds are ignoring the admonitions of President Humpty, Pompeo, et al, to stonewall, because they have nothing juicy to say? I think Trumpty's wall is made of swiss cheese, and the witnesses have no intention of taking a fall for your Dear Leader.

And why exactly would Schiff be in a hurry to turn on the cameras when he has refugees from Trumpland multiplying like hobgoblins to warble to his committee?

I don't pretend to have any answers here, not being blessed with a crystal ball. But I'm willing to wait.

And you don't have any answers either. But by all means continue whistling your way past the graveyard if pretending soothes your anxious little soul.

Browndog said...

Blogger readering said...

Trump focus on whistleblower getting to be like drunk looking for his keys under street light.


This has to be the greatest comment on Althouse EVAH!

Birkel said...

bbkingfish comes in with the "you still don't know what Mueller, wait!, er the grand jury, er, the congressional committees know, or something."

Strong stuff.
Hard to argue.

Josephbleau said...

The CIA is rapidly spending all the credibility it never had. Any future president would be a fool to allow them within 100 miles. Fool me 900 times, shame on me.

Bunkypotatohead said...

Has Congress enacted any legislation since Pelosi took control of the House?
It seems like they've spent the entire year trying to hound the President out of office. And done nothing else.

Michael K said...

You are sure Hill testified for 10 hours yesterday and said nothing? I think it more likely that she sang like a bird.

She may have "sung" but she did not compose. I see you are totally trusting of Schiff. Not a good idea.

cubanbob said...

You are sure Hill testified for 10 hours yesterday and said nothing? I think it more likely that she sang like a bird."

More likely Hill was asked the same stupid question in a myriad of ways and the answer was the essentially the same every time.