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Certainly they can be held civilly liable if defamation can be proved. If actual spite and malice can be shown, or if the suspect intends to profit from the action, it's possible that there may be criminal laws that apply, depending on the state.

Are there any studies or reports of typical repercussions faced by whistle blowers for false reports?

I'd guess both false and true reports suffer approximately the same repercussions...

False whistleblowers can suffer less repurcussions if you include "made up out of whole cloth" because it is impossible to ruin a career that they never had. They tend to be easier to discredit at least in a "the Pizza restuarant doesn't even have a basement it is built in swampland and would flood way too easily" way.

Both Boeing and the FAA acknowledge there was an issue. The only disagreement is over if it was resolved fully or not. So this whistleblower isn't "untruthful." This is all in the article.

what are the repercussions for an untruthful cop?

lol @ you being downvoted for even asking. Shows how much of a leftist website this is: someone who goes against big corporations must be right!