The hysteria over the Russia investigation has diverted attention from the real, tangible scandal: intelligence leaks.
In people’s haste to point out every single perceived faux pas coming from the White House behind the scenes, they ignore the “juicy” morsels they’re getting from leakers has a damaging effect on the country.
Leaks undermine both domestic and foreign confidence in the administration. The report Trump allegedly leaked to the Russians that Israel had an asset inside ISIS potentially puts lives in danger and weakens the exchange of information. But attention to the criminal leaks is finally growing.
Following John Brennan’s lead, another former CIA Director, James Woolsey, rebuked the leakers as “traitors.”
From Townhall.com:
President Trump is fed up with the media’s obsessive reporting on supposed “collusion” between his associates and the Russian government. Considering several investigations have resulted in no evidence to prove he worked with the Kremlin to win the 2016 presidential election, when will the media begin to focus on other newsy items, he wondered – like the leaks coming out of the White House?
Amb. R. James Woolsey, a CIA director during Bill Clinton’s presidency who also served on Trump’s transition team as a senior adviser on national security and intelligence, agrees with the president as to what he believes is the real scandal.
“I don’t see anything untoward” about the Trump administration’s back channel process, Woolsey said on CNN, adding that people in Washington do it “all the time.”
The leaking of classified intelligence deserves more attention, he argued.
“That is the real scandal here,” Woolsey said. “That so much has been disclosed it makes it hard to keep secrecy that’s essential to the operation of the U.S. government in these areas to continue.”
The people who have turned classified information loose are “traitors to the country,” he concluded.
Despite their political leanings, Brennan and Woolsey were appointed by Democratic presidents; both ex-CIA directors understand that felonious leaks are not a partisan issue.
George W. Bush had a similar problem during his administration, but he made a concerted effort to expel Clinton loyalists and prosecute leakers.
Trump appears to be doing the same. Although they’re still too many Obama acolytes and unfilled administration roles, three leakers have been exposed.
From The Daily Wire:
“CBS News has confirmed from two sources that three leakers of classified information at the White House have been identified and are expected to be fired,” CBS News reported this week, adding, “Officials within the Trump White House believe leaks of Mr. Trump’s conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are a ‘deliberate attempt’ by officials who are holdovers from President Obama’s administration and are trying to damage the Trump presidency.”
This is an important first step in putting an end to the sieve that has been undermining Trump’s presidency from the beginning.