Although she was the taxpayer’s friend when she was stationed on the sidewalks of New York, STJ Diana L. (“STJ Di”) Leyden can’t grant blanket anonymity to every whistleblower. Here’s Whistleblower 7208-17W, filed 7/31/18, and he’ll be known here as Eight-Seventeen Whiskey only for the next thirty days, unless he sooner appeals.

Eight-Seventeen Whiskey trumpeted his blower status around the real estate investing community to show he was an “upstander,” one of the righteous, while trying to get his clichés in a row to file his now-bounced 211.

Eight-Seventeen Whiskey was a desk trader who kicked around the investing community with his parabolic trading concept, designed to allow investors holding illiquid assets (like real estate) to take advantage of “vol” (I assume that means volatility). But he came up dry until he got solicited by what he claims was a dodgeflogger. A couple years later (hi, Judge Holmes), and after principals of the alleged flogger were being investigated, he filed his Form 211.

All STJ Di has to deal with here is Eight-Seventeen Whiskey’s Rule 345 anonymity claim.

STJ Di recalls Judge James S (“Big Jim”) Halpern’s concurrence in Whistleblower 14106-10, 137 T. C. 183., at p. 208” “…we will not automatically grant anonymity upon a claim of possible employment discrimination.” Opinion, at p. 25.

Much of the opinion deals with Eight-Seventeen Whiskey’s trumpeting his blowerness to all and sundry, claiming that full disclosure and his upstanderness required same. But he also claims a blower’s lot is not a happy one, and tenders a study to prove it.

But Eight-Seventeen Whiskey has no substantive evidence of unemployment, retaliation or threats of physical harm. He wasn’t employed by the blown floggers, and wasn’t a fiduciary. And he has since switched to another field.

“The Court has acknowledged that ‘fears of such harm befalling a confidential informant are reasonable although necessarily difficult to prove.’  Nevertheless, each request to proceed anonymously stands upon its own…, and petitioner must provide some factual basis sufficient and specific enough to allow the Court to determine whether the severity of the asserted risk of harm amounts to more than mere embarrassment or annoyance and outweighs the societal interest of the public’s right to know who is using the Court.  Otherwise the grant of anonymity would be automatic in every whistleblower case.” Opinion, at p. 26.

And Eight-Seventeen Whiskey was using publicly-available information (the alleged flogger was pitching far and wide). Of course, IRS hasn’t yet made any dispositive motion, but I expect one will soon be forthcoming.

Blow, and you’re on your own.