I may have underestimated ABC’s desperation to punish an employee who dared to tell the truth. It seemed to me that having been publicly humiliated by fingering the wrong person for leaking the Amy Robach tape the first time around, the nework would relent and hope people forgot all about it. But apparently the hunt for the real leaker continues with ABC “bigwigs” now focused on identifying the person who wrote a piece for Project Veritas under the name “Ignotus.” It turns out Ignotus is the name of a Harry Potter character but is also Latin for “unknown.”

The ABC insider said, “They are freaking out over the Harry Potter reference. Does this mean the leaker is a Potter fan, likely one of the younger staff members who work the overnight shift? Or is the leaker citing Latin, which means he or she could be an older member of staff. I mean, how many young producers speak Latin these days?”

The source added ABC investigators have been rifling through staff emails, news logs and grilling staffers. The company has been isolating certain employees and putting them under pressure to turn on their colleagues in a bid to find the culprit, the source also claimed, adding the investigation reports back up to the very highest levels at HR at ABC’s parent company Disney.

What I don’t understand is what the company hopes to gain by pursuing this Stasi-esque mole hunt followed by a firing of the leaker? The former won’t do much for morale inside the company and the latter will only remind people that, as our own Ed Morrissey put it earlier today, “ABC’s Epstein story didn’t kill itself.” Why would you want to keep highlighting that failure? Why not take the ‘L’ and quietly move on?

I can only come up with one explanation that makes sense: ABC has a lot more to hide. I’m speculating of course but imagine if there are several more instances in which ABC reporters have made awkward observations on a live microphone. It would make sense for the HR bigwigs to be very concerned about what might turn up at Project Veritas next.

Remember, according to Ashley Bianco, the Robach clip was widely discussed in the newsroom on the day it happened. “Everyone in the office was freaked out by what she was saying and everyone was watching it,” she told Megyn Kelly. It makes you wonder what else everyone at ABC has discussed internally but wouldn’t dare talk about beyond ABC for fear of getting fired. All that to say, I don’t think ABC is worried about what happened. That damage is already done. I think ABC is worried about what happens next if Ignotus goes undetected and is allowed to strike again.

Finally, I think the dragnet also serves another purpose. It puts the fear of god into the staff who might be thinking about leaking something else. The message coming from corporate is clear: If you leak, we will stop at nothing to find you and destroy you. In fact, they are willing to destroy you even if you’ve already left the company and weren’t involved in the lead.

Here’s hoping ABC fails and that Ignotus and others like him continue to give us a behind the scenes view of life at a big news network.