Trump Administration Leaks are Self-Inflicted
All administrations have leaks, but the Trump administration has had a particularly difficult time responding to damaging leaked information, particularly about ties to Russia. Trump is quite upset about the flow of sensitive information being published by the media. February 14, 2017, President Trump tweeted:
@realDonaldTrump
The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?
9:28 AM - 14 Feb 2017
With that tweet, Trump asked an important question, “Why are there so many illegal leaks?” If we take into consideration the large number of government agencies and employees that Trump has insulted from the time of his campaign, continuing into his presidency, perhaps we gain insight into the causes of these leaks. The denigration of the agencies that comprise the various branches of the federal government essentially creates an adversarial relationship between the president and the government he leads. Trump’s insults have been aimed at the judiciary, the legislative branch, the military and the intelligence community. The intelligence community’s job is to gather sensitive information through spying and various covert operations, so it seems unwise to insult them and start a feud. Not only did the Trump campaign start a feud with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), they attempted to lie about it in a photo-op at CIA headquarters, January 21, 2017.
On Trump’s first full day in office, standing in front of a wall honoring the intelligence agents that have lost their lives in service to our nation, he gave a speech from the lobby of CIA headquarters that falsely claimed the media made up his feud with the agency. That is untrue. That statement was a lie, or what some might consider to be “alternative facts.” In a January 21, 2017 article, the Washington Post reported:
In fact, Trump repeatedly vilified the intelligence community throughout much of his transition in an attempt to push back against what he saw as politically charged conclusions by the CIA and other agencies about Russia’s hacking of Democratic Party emails to interfere with the 2016 election.
Trump has taken particular issue with the CIA’s determination that Moscow intervened not only to disrupt this country’s election, but to help Trump defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
At a Jan. 11 news conference, Trump accused U.S. intelligence officials of being behind a Nazi-like smear campaign against him. He has put quotation marks around the word “intelligence” in referring to such officials. And last weekend, for instance, Trump attacked CIA Director John Brennan — who resigned Friday at the conclusion of President Obama’s term — in a pair of tweets, suggesting he was “the leaker of Fake News.” (1)
Donald Trump went to the CIA, stood in front of their most sacred memorial to fallen agents, and lied to them. He attempted to depict the rift between the CIA and the Trump administration as a “fake news” creation of the media. Trump’s own statements indicate otherwise and the media simply reported the facts. Trump repeatedly attacked the intelligence community throughout his transition because the information they reported undermined the legitimacy of his presidency. The information they reported was true. Almost every day since then, more information emerges that connects Russia to interference in the US presidential election and to the Trump campaign and administration. Most damning is the Trump administration’s repeated lies and cover-ups regarding the contacts with Russians, including intelligence officials and spies like diplomat Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States.
The question remains, why were the traitorous activities of the Trump campaign leaked? Trump tweets such as this one may help explain the leaks:
@realDonaldTrump
Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to "leak" into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany?
7:48 AM - 11 Jan 2017
The comparison of the CIA to Nazis is both extreme and inaccurate. It also deeply offended many within the intelligence community, including CIA director John Brennan. He responded to Trump’s statements on Fox News Sunday:
Tell the families of those 117 CIA officers who are forever memorialized on our wall of honor that their loved ones who gave their lives were akin to Nazis,” he said. “Tell the CIA officers who are serving in harm’s way right now and their families who are worried about them that they are akin to Nazi Germany. I found that to be very repugnant. (2)
John Brennan went on to deny the CIA has leaked information about Trump, however, if we consider the insults directed at the CIA, FBI, judges, legislators and military personnel, it becomes clear that there are many people that may want to leak damaging information about Trump and his administration. Trump’s repeated insults of the agencies essential to the efficient functioning of his presidency are the cause of the multitude of incriminating leaks. Donald Trump continues to lie about this topic and many others in a systematic campaign of dishonesty meant to distract the American people from his radical, un-American and dangerous agenda. Trump’s insulting, aggressive behavior is the cause of the leaks.
Sources:
2 - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cia-director-trump-nazi-repugnant_us_587e158ee4b0d4cc088482ce
