After a former Hillary Clinton adviser essentially dared fellow panelists on “Spin Cycle” to name the whistleblower, Mollie Hemingway took the challenge to heart and promptly said the name of the schmuck who “shall not be named.”

As the discussion developed on Sunday’s Fox News program, Phillippe Reines asked, “Why hasn’t the press done it? I could say why hasn’t Fox done it? I could say why hasn’t The Federalist done it?”

Hemingway, senior editor at The Federalist, did not hesitate to name the whistleblower and she explained that media outlets have long been publishing his name.

True enough, yet host Howard Kurtz reacted as if he expected an immediate angry visit from mob enforcers. He said not once, but twice that he wanted to “clarify” that he personally did not know who the whistleblower is, desperately pleading to the camera his mea innocentia.

Earlier in the discussion, Kurtz rightfully stated: “Understand that legally there is no prohibition against naming the whistleblower, just against retaliation. Maybe you think he is a partisan, a hack or a never-Trumper, but as I said, it would send a message to future whistleblowers that this person can be outed just because their name is leaked to the press and that might be true in a Democratic administration.”

“I think people should be concerned about protecting people that are in the public news,” Hemingway replied. “But the most important thing is that the media should be about sharing information that is in the public interest. And there’s no question that this is in the public interest.”

She went on to point out the ludicrous double dealing at work in the national media. “We are not seeing this kind of concern that the media has for the whistleblower that they have had for other people. You had CNN doxxing a grandmother because they didn’t like what she put on Facebook, filming her on her front lawn. You have NBC recently outing an American spy who was Russian. You have had the New York Times out a CIA station chief in Iran.”

“You don’t see concern when it doesn’t match their political motivation,” Hemingway continued. “And, of course, Adam Schiff first demanded that the whistleblower testify until that precise moment that it was revealed that they’d coordinated prior to him filing the complaint.”

“It seems like the media is just following what Adam Schiff wants and that’s not a good look,” she added.

“If Rand Paul wants to out the whistleblower and he can do so on the floor without any legal consequence whatsoever, why hasn’t he done it?” Kurtz asked.

“Because he’s a hypocrite and a weak man who wants someone else to do his dirty work,” said Reines.

Here Kurtz began laying the groundwork for his not-guilty plea. “But also perhaps anybody who knows who it is,” he said, “I don’t know who it is, many of our journalists here don’t know who it is, would face enormous political blowback so it’s easier if the press does it.”

“I want to take a step back,” Reines said. “We say why hasn’t the press done it? I could say why hasn’t Fox done it? I could say why hasn’t The Federalist done it?”

“Actually, there’s something I don’t quite get about the conversation we’re having,” said Hemingway. “There HAS been reporting on this whistleblower.”

“The president is saying that the media is not doing its job … How are you guys exempt from that?” Reines questioned.

“The New York Times did all but reveal his name in September and gave all the details,” said Hemingway.

“The New York Times was the first to basically half-‘out’ the whistleblower by saying he’s a CIA officer who had been assigned to the White House,” Kurtz added.

“And Real Clear Investigations has identified a man named Eric Ciaramella as the whistleblower,” said the Federalist editor, “so it’s already out there. We could be talking about this reporting and talking about whether that’s accurate reporting or not and I feel confused why we are pretending that it hasn’t already been …”

“I just want to clarify that I don’t know that that’s who the person is —” Kurtz interjected as his brow suddenly became moist.

“That might be the first time that the name has been mentioned on Fox News and not by a Fox News reporter,” Reines teased.

Once again, Kurtz interjected: “I just need to clarify that I don’t know whether this is actually the person or not and I don’t want to speculate about that. But there have been a few conservative outlets and commentators who have floated that name or any other name and is this an effort to have it ooze into the mainstream media?”

“I think there has been a lot of speculation,” replied media expert Beverly Hallberg. “When you look at social media you have YouTube and Facebook, who’ve decided to try to block all mentions of this individual’s name. Twitter has been free reins. I’ve heard that name before which Molly has said, a lot of people have, so the question is, whether or not this person should come forth. Should the media out him? Should we hear about him from Rand Paul?”

“Do you think YouTube was wrong to do that?” Kurtz asked.

“I think it’s up to them as a business,” said Hallberg.

Watch this little drama unfold, as Mollie Hemingway asserts herself as strong and confident, while Howard Kurtz … well, not so much …

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Victor Rantala

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Victor Rantala is an Army vet who lives in Minnesota, he is a former intelligence analyst and business owner, and is an NRA Life member who is officially retired but has yet to slow his roll.

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