NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have launched a new whistleblower program encouraging witnesses of public corruption and other crimes to come forward without fear. At an informal sit-down with journalists who cover the federal courts in Manhattan, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the idea behind the pilot program is to help prosecutors find out what they don’t know. He said he hopes it will help prosecutors root out corrupt power players by incentivizing whistleblowers to cooperate with the feds early and voluntarily in exchange for non-prosecution agreements. “There are plenty o…