On Wednesday night, Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson exposed media hypocrisy when it comes to whistleblower that advance their causes while ignoring or undermining those that do not accomplish it.
After noting that “CNN, Democrats, and the rest of Washington” agree that “the Ukraine whistleblower is a hero...doing a vital service this country,” Carlson pointed out that “we have whistleblowers here (in Washington) and they’re almost always ignored and mistreated by the people in power. All the cool kids look down on real whistleblowers.”
Before speaking with former whistleblower John Kiriakou, Carlson played a montage of “mindlessly repetitive” media figures and liberals declaring that President Trump is “stonewalling” when it comes to the impeachment inquiry. Carlson prefaced the montage by pointing out that the Democrats, who “use the same talking points on virtually every issue,” can “almost always get their friends in the press to use” those talking points.
The Fox News host cited the decision to use the “stonewalling” point as the latest example of collusion between elected liberals and the media. Carlson highlighted their description of the “disaster at the U.S.-Mexico border” as “a manufactured crisis” and their depiction of the Mueller report as “damning” as two other examples of liberal talking points the media repeated while “nodding mindlessly.”
Carlson explained that when it comes to most whistleblowers, “you never hear their names.” He identified Kiriakou as an “exception to the rule” before presenting Kiriakou as “a CIA whistleblower” who “blew the whistle on the agency’s covert torture programs.”
When asked by Carlson to “assess this whistleblower,” Kiriakou contended that he or she was a “an anonymous source for....the Democratic staff in the House of Representatives” rather than a genuine whistleblower. Kiriakou also noted that “the same people...that attacked me are attacking the President. Robert Mueller set up the John Kiriakou Task Force at the FBI, John Brennan petitioned Attorney General Holder to charge me with five felonies including three counts of espionage.”
Carlson could not believe that Kiriakou received such harsh treatment for telling the truth “about what a federal agency was doing without the knowledge…or consent of Congress,” an idea that the media would describe as “undermining democracy” in the age of Trump. Carlson asked Kiriakou if CNN and MSNBC came to his defense, to which he replied: “Only Fox came to my defense...MSNBC never called me a whistleblower. They called me ‘CIA leaker.’” As for CNN, it took them a year to start referring to Kiriakou as a whistleblower.
Carlson closed by predicting the fate of the Ukraine whistleblower celebrated by the media: “I don’t think there’s any chance this person is going to do almost two years in prison.”
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A transcript of the relevant portion of Wednesday’s edition of Tucker Carlson Tonight is below. Click “expand” to read more.
FNC's Tucker Carlson Tonight
10/09/19
08:20 PM
TUCKER CARLSON: Well, you think of writers as liberal but clearly there’s a shortage of writers on the left these days. Maybe they all went into private equity or something. How do we know that there aren’t enough writers? Because Democratic lawmakers use the same talking points on virtually every issue. Mindlessly repetitive, they can almost always get their friends in the press to use them; however. You’ll notice that on every story; the disaster at the US-Mexico border was, remember this, a manufactured crisis. The Mueller report, meanwhile, was damning, they told you, until they forgot it existed; and now, there’s the Ukraine story. The Trump administration says it will not cooperate with an impeachment investigation until the House votes to begin one. So, what does that mean? Well, everyone at CNN agrees the President is stonewalling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
JOHN AVLON: The Trump administration announcing a total stonewall strategy to openly defy Congress and its constitutionally granted power to investigate the President.
REP. RUBEN GALLEGO: So, the President can stonewall but it’s not going to change the outcome.
JIM ACOSTA: House Democrats warn White House stonewalling won’t make their inquiry go away.
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT: The more they try to stonewall and…and obstruct the investigation, the deeper they’ll get into the quicksand.
LEMON: Doubling down on its strategy and that strategy is to stonewall. That strategy is to obstruct.
SEN. MICHAEL BENNET: I don’t think that their stonewalling will hold up.
REP. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON: When the White House stonewalls, they commit a grievous error.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
CARLSON: It’s just unbelievable. There’s nothing the media won’t repeat nodding mindlessly. Well, here’s another thing CNN, Democrats, and the rest of Washington agree on: the Ukraine whistleblower is a hero…a brave hero doing a vital service to this country. He’s a whistleblower! The funny thing is and if you live in Washington, you know this. We have whistleblowers here and they’re almost always ignored and mistreated by the people in power. All the cool kids look down on real whistleblowers. It’s amazing. Most of them you don’t even know exist. You never hear their names. One exception to the rule is John Kiriakou, who is a CIA whistleblower. He blew the whistle on the agency’s covert torture programs and was profoundly punished for it. So, we thought we’d have him on tonight to assess this new whistleblower. John, thanks so much for coming on.
JOHN KIRIAKOU: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
CARLSON: How do you assess this whistleblower, who everyone loves?
JOHN KIRIAKOU: I don’t think this is a whistleblower. Not at all. I think this is an anonymous source for the…the Democratic staff in the House of Representatives.
CARLSON: So, that sounds very different from a whistleblower. What is a whistleblower? How…
KIRIAKOU: Yes.
CARLSON: …is a whistleblower distinct from whoever this person is?
KIRIAKOU: A whistleblower is someone who brings to light any evidence of waste, fraud, abuse, illegality or threats to the public health or public safety, and they do this almost always with a…with a great personal cost attached to…
CARLSON: Yes.
KIRIAKOU: …it. Now, this…this so-called whistleblower at the CIA is someone who is acting anonymously and, remember, this person is not an undercover CIA operative. By all accounts, this is an analyst who is not undercover. Well, you can’t hide this person’s name…
CARLSON: Right.
KIRIAKOU: …identity just to save him from embarrassment or…or trouble of being recognized or something like that. It’s just not appropriate. If this is a whistleblower, he needs to come forward in public, testify in open session, and blow that whistle.
CARLSON: What’s interesting is that he comes out and makes these allegations and then the White House immediately releases the transcript.
KIRIAKOU: Right.
CARLSON: So, it’s kind of end of story. In your case, you made allegations that were true, it turned out.
KIRIAKOU: Yes.
CARLSON: And you still went to prison for saying it out loud.
KIRIAKOU: I did. I went to prison for 23 months and…and, you know, the same people that…that attacked me are attacking the President. Robert Mueller set up the John Kiriakou Task Force at the FBI, John Brennan petitioned Attorney General Holder to charge me with five felonies including three counts of espionage, all of which were dismissed, and ironically, it was Peter Strzok who put the cuffs on me in 2012.
CARLSON: Wait a second, so you told…
KIRIAKOU: It’s a small town.
CARLSON: …you told the truth about what a federal agency was doing without the knowledge or…or consent of Congress so…
KIRIAKOU: That’s right.
CARLSON: Outside the democratic channels…
KIRIAKOU: Yes.
CARLSON: Right? Undermining democracy, they would say now… and MSNBC and CNN did not come to your defense?
KIRIAKOU: Actually, only Fox came to my defense. You know, that’s something you and I have never talked about. But MSNBC…
CARLSON: I didn’t even know this.
KIRIAKOU: Yeah, MSNBC never called me a whistleblower. They called me “CIA leaker John Kiriakou.” And then, CNN, after a year, pending trial, going through the whole case, after a year, they decided to call me a whistleblower. It…it’s tough being a whistleblower, you know, political lines are drawn, and that’s really where these things usually turn. We’re seeing the Democrats trying to do the same thing right now with this CIA officer. They’re telling us, they’re imposing upon us their notion that this person is a whistleblower and he simply is not.
CARLSON: I don’t think there’s any chance this person is going to do almost two years in prison.
KIRIAKOU: Not a chance. You know, even his attorney, Mark Zaid, is one of these CIA insiders. He’s attached at the hip with the CIA, he’s represented dozens of CIA people, he has a CIA security clearance. If…if you are represented by Mark Zaid and you’re claiming to be a…a whistleblower, you are not.
CARLSON: You’re one of the only people I can think of who could give us this perspective on the whistleblower story and I really am grateful that you came.
KIRIAKOU: It’s my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
CARLSON: Thank you, John.
