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In a tweet following the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump said the “real scandal” was that classified information involving Flynn had been leaked by intelligence officials.
“Very un-American!” he said.
Wrong. Dead wrong.
Not only did the information about Flynn need to come to light, but Trump’s suggestion that governmental leaks are unpatriotic is so off base it’s offensive.
The truth is that some of the nation’s most selfless acts of patriotism have been performed by people who had the courage to reveal governmental wrongdoing by bringing secret information to light.
To mention just a couple of examples:
The illegal actions of the Richard Nixon administration likely would have remained undisclosed if not for leaks about the Watergate scandal by government officials — most notably former top FBI official Mark Felt, who, under the name Deep Throat, provided information about the conspiracy to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
The Pentagon Papers, leaked to the New York Times’ Neil Sheehan by former State Department official Daniel Ellsberg in 1971, revealed that Presidents Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Nixon had all misled the public about the Vietnam War.
Felt and Ellsberg stepped forward despite great personal risk, as shown when Ellsberg was indicted on criminal charges that included conspiracy, espionage and theft. Those charges were dismissed — after the revelation that a secret team of White House operatives known as “the Plumbers” had burglarized Ellsberg’s office.
Felt was in such jeopardy of retaliation that his role as Deep Throat remained a secret for three decades.
So as Trump and conservative commentators rage against leaks as un-American, they’re wiping their feet on the legacy of great patriots like Felt, Ellsberg and others. Those individuals were loyal to the American public, not a political party or a presidential administration, and need to be remembered as heroes.
Those criticizing the leaks about Flynn may try to equate them to the actions of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, but if so, they’re off track. Manning and Snowden simply dumped their data on Wikileaks, compromising the security of people named in their documentation and offering other sensitive details. The Flynn leaks went to reporters who could make measured judgments about what should and shouldn’t be made public.
Big difference.
Let’s also not forget that the intelligence community gave the Trump administration information about his conversations with Russia, and the president did nothing about it.
Given that Flynn was privy to the nation’s most sensitive secrets, intelligence officials then leaked rather than let another day go by with a possible Russian plant on the National Security Council. That’s admirable, especially in light of the New York Times report Tuesday night that members of Trump’s election team had several contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials during the campaign.
Granted, it’s unclear whether Trump has been compromised by the Russians. But his behavior toward them has been deeply suspicious. And in addition to the Times story Tuesday, reports are circulating that portions of the private dossier by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele outlining allegations of misconduct involving Trump and the Russian government have been verified.
The fact that Trump is more focused on people leaking information than uncovering Russian hackers trying to undermine our elections adds to the suspicion.
Keep in mind, too, that Trump’s gang has been stripping public information from government websites — data, explanations of processes, etc. In a climate where Trump wants the ability to dictate what the public knows, patriots will have to leak information. Heck, Trump is creating an environment where programmers have been furiously downloading NASA’s Earth science to rescue it from any attempt by Trump to delete or hide it. The situation is that dire.
If it turns out there are improper ties between Trump and the Kremlin, we should pray that members of the intelligence community keep divulging details to the public.
Meanwhile, a fully empowered special prosecutor should be named to investigate the situation.
Americans need facts, not offensive attacks on people who are leaking information. If the Trump administration weren’t involved in shady behavior, it wouldn’t have to worry about leaks.
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