Now N.Y. Post calls for whistleblower to fess up

Eric Ciaramella, Barack Obama

Investigative reporter Paul Sperry reported in October the whistleblower who triggered the Democrats' impeachment inquiry is Eric Ciaramella.

He's a CIA employee involved in Ukraine affairs who worked in the Obama White House and stayed over under Trump.

Majority House Democrats have denied Republican requests that he testify, even if only in a closed-door session that would maintain his official anonymity.

Now, the New York Post's editorial board is arguing that given the magnitude of the circumstances -- it's only the fourth time in history that a president has faced impeachment -- there are relevant questions that require answers now, not two or three years from now when the "tell-all books come out."

"What, if anything, did he leak? Did he work with [Joe] Biden on Ukraine, apparently Ciaramella's area of expertise? Did he know about Burisma and Hunter Biden? Who told him about the call, and why did that person not complain instead of him? How did [Rep. Adam] Schiff's staff help him tailor the complaint?" the board asked.

The board pointed out that in the thick of the Trump-Russian collusion "fever," establishment media ridiculed anyone who doubted that President Trump was an agent of Vladimir Putin.

"Of course, we now know that the conspiracy theories were wrong. There was no Russian collusion with the Trump campaign," the board said.

"And, moreover, the inspector general report proves that the FBI trampled over civil liberties and common sense in pursuit of the case. While idle conversation during a meeting with George Papadopoulos and an Australian official may have sparked the inquiry, Crossfire Hurricane, it was only because of outlandish gossip in a Democrat-funded opposition report, the Steele dossier, that the FBI was able to land a surveillance warrant for Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Even as the agency found that Steele’s sources did not back up the dossier, that facts did not back up the dossier, they continued the red scare. When it came out that Page was an informant for the CIA, an FBI lawyer lied about it.

"Forgive us, then, for the sense of déjà vu when it comes to the impeachment hearings. This time, the press is near united in arguing that you shall not question the narrative of how this whole thing got started. Don't you dare name the whistleblower. Don't ask how Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., might have helped him write his complaint. Or even that Schiff is lying when he says he doesn’t know who the whistleblower is. Or why Schiff is subpoenaing the phone records of his colleagues."

Incidentally, the board noted, it's the "same Schiff" who proved himself to be a "liar" because he claimed the DOJ's warrants for the FISA court met "the rigor, transparency and evidentiary basis needed."

Inspector General Michael Horowitz found the opposite.

"Journalist Paul Sperry reported [on Ciaramella] in late October, saying that sources inside the closed-door impeachment hearings identified him. Ciaramella has put out no statement denying these reports. Whistleblower lawyers refuse to confirm or deny Ciaramella is their man. His identity is apparently the worst-kept secret of the Washington press corps. In a sign of how farcical this has become, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said his name as part of a series of names during a live hearing Wednesday night aired on television. He never called him the whistleblower, just said he was someone Republicans thought should testify, yet Democrats angrily denounced the 'outing.' If you don't know the man’s name, how do you know the man's name?"

The board argued that naming the whistleblower is not against the law. Even opponents of the president have provided generic descriptions, such as that he's in the CIA and worked at the White House. The article suggested that naming the person should be done, even though the publication shares ownership with Fox News, which does not allow its personalities to state the name.

"If Ciaramella is the whistleblower, isn't it also relevant that he, according to Sperry, previously worked with CIA Director John Brennan, a fierce critic of Trump, and Vice President Joe Biden, Trump's political opponent and the crux of the impeachment inquiry? That he's a registered Democrat and that he was — again, according to Sperry — accused of leaking negative information about the Trump administration and that's why he was transferred back to Langley?"

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert has called for Ciaramella to testify.

He said during the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on Wednesday regarding the articles of impeachment against President Trump: "A vague abuse of power, obstruction of Congress, the very things the majority has done in preventing us from having the witnesses that could shed light on this, not opinion, but fact witnesses. We needed to hear from those witnesses. People like Sean Misko [a former National Security Council aide who joined Adam Schiff's staff], Abigail Grace [who also worked at the NSC], Eric Ciaramella, Devon Archer [an American businessman who worked at Burisma], Joe Biden, Nellie Ohr [a contractor for Fusion GPS in 2015 and 2016], and Alexander Chalupa, and so many others. They don’t want fact witnesses."

Just a day after the phone call at the center of the whistleblower complaint between President Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Schiff hired a former National Security Council aide who worked with the alleged whistleblower.

The Washington Examiner reported public records indicated Sean Misko, 37, began working with Schiff's team July 26.