Howard Kurtz: Media Printing Name of Whistleblower Would Send ‘Chilling Message to Future Whistleblowers’

EXCERPT:

KURTZ: “But here's the reason that nobody in the press who knows it has revealed that. And that is, this is a government official, in my view, and I'm not defending the whistleblower, I don't know his motivation, who went through official channels, who didn't leak it to the press, who went to an Inspector General, went to a committee of Congress and with the expectation that he'd remain anonymous. It would send a very chilling message to future whistleblowers, including in Democratic administrations, including people who have information on scandal, if they thought they could be turned into a political pinata if somebody just leaks the name to a reporter."