[MEDIAite] It would be too nice to say that CNN New Day anchors Alisyn Camerota and John Berman pointed and laughed at Senator Rand Paul Tuesday morning. More apt descriptions might be ridiculed, belittled or, better yet, cut down to size.At issue was the Kentucky Senator’s calling out the media to out the identity of the whistleblower whose complaint launched the impeachment inquiry that currently presents an existential threat to President Donald Trump’s time in the White House. During the Monday night Trump rally in his home state of Kentucky, Senator Paul challenged the press by saying " I say tonight to the media, do your job and print his name."
Thing is, the Whistleblower Statued passed in 1989 protects the identity of the individual at the center of the current controversy, and to out the person and print his or her name, is against the law. This argument was made by Camerota as she tossed to CNN Contributor, and former Clinton Press Secretary, Joe Lockhart.
"He’s trying to get us to do his dirty work and say the name of the whistle-blower, which is illegal," Camerota said, adding later "If he knows it, why doesn’t he say it? I’ll tell you why he doesn’t say it. Don’t answer that. Because it’s illegal, and he knows that."
But it was Berman who took the mockery/condemnation to another level as he jumped in to make his point.