A Fox News executive sent an email directive to its staff that the network had not confirmed the name of the whistleblower and therefore did not want hosts naming who they thought the whistleblower is.
The email, sent by a company executive and obtained by CNN on Wednesday, dictated that hosts were not to name the whistleblower, and production staffers were commanded to “not fulfill any video or graphic requests” in connection to the whistleblower’s identity.
The ban includes Fox’s prime-time hosts who have all largely supported President Trump. Hannity claimed this week that he had “multiple confirmations” of the identity of the whistleblower who is at the center of the Trump impeachment debate.
The Fox News host blamed the whistleblower’s lawyers and threats of lawsuits rather than Fox News executives for the reason he was not divulging the name. The lawyers for the whistleblower told the Washington Examiner they never threatened Hannity with a lawsuit.
One Fox News anchor, Howard Kurtz, defended not releasing the name of the whistleblower, saying it would send a “chilling message” to whistleblowers in the future.
Some conservatives and media outlets have speculated that Eric Ciaramella is the whistleblower that accused Trump of offering Ukraine a quid pro quo. The lawyers for the whistleblower have called any attempts to name the individual “the pinnacle of irresponsibility and is intentionally reckless.”
