There is no hidden meaning here. It is just advice to those on my side.

I got  paid to be an interrogator. If you ask someone what an interrogator does, he will normally respond with what the verb means in Latin:  Ask questions.

But a moment’s thought will tell you that asking is not a GOOD interrogator’s main job, despite the title.

From suspects to committee hearings, “Get Whitaker in on it” was not only because of what Whitaker might ASK, but what Whitaker might HEAR.

In one  hearing, a big one on a BATF proposal that ammunition be registered, my boss was there as Ranking Member and I was standing behind him, whispering in his ear like Beelzebub.

This is the kind of hearing most people see, the congressman with the staffer whispering to him.

Most real hearings feature an absence of congressmen, staff doing the questioning, but these are not televised.

This time not only was John there, but Bob had to be standing right behind  him. Bob had to be “in on it.”

John asked, I LISTENED. This is one of the clearest examples of why they wanted Bob in on it and what an interrogator does.

At one point John asked the BATF witness the standard question about whether this ammunition registration was part of a plan leading to registration of all guns.

A note: Both congressmen and even senior staffers are sometimes witnesses at committees and we are always preparing to deal with questions from all sides. We know what “prepping,” preparing, consists of.

I stepped up behind John and whispered, “They aren’t prepped on that question. Sic em, Boss.”

He sicced em. He asked that witness eight more times the same question, “Is this a first step to national gun registration?”

Then John put him on oath. It was not a formal investigation so the witnesses had not been sworn. John demanded that, given the runaround he had been given, that question would be answered under oath, i.e., at risk of  perjury.

Sure enough, the answers, which had been runaround enough before, completely changed under oath.

So, “Bob was  in on it” and all anybody saw was me step up for one short whisper.

Even in normal conversation it also makes a difference HOW you listen.

One who replies instantly is considered a featherhead.

And often IS.

I was not there as an extra mouth, but as an extra pair or EARS.

The BATF Brigade would have been infinitely more comfortable if John had simply repeated a question I had whispered in his ear.

They got very uncomfortable as John clearly ran my observation through his mind and contemplated HOW to “sic ’em.”

Most of my best advice gets lost in quick responses.

For example, much of my best counsel comes from rethinking basics. But everybody has heard the basics many times and has something he routinely says when one is mentioned.

That response takes up the crucial seconds during which he could have thought WHY I brought that particular basic up and what my point was. A quick response means that “Whitaker is not in on it.”

More generally, how quickly you answer is as much a part of your conversation as what you say. You notice the guy who has nothing to say.

Most people who have nothing to say, have nothing to say.

You also notice the featherhead who instantly gives an “answer” he would have given had you never been born.

And you notice the person who is listening. He is not the Cone of Silence who might be trying to look Silent and Wise. He is the guy who runs what you said through his brain and THEN has a comment.

One of the first things an interrogator learns is to sort out the OTHER listeners from the featherheads and the Owl Brains.

The person who is listening can make you nervous, but he also makes talking worth while.