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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump won't release his tax returns, but he WILL release classified information.
Here's the Huffington Post story on his probable release of classified information:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-iran-intelligence-briefing_us_57a26249e4b04414d1f370b9
Let's frame this quickly.
Trump is so erratic that he won't release his tax returns, but he WILL release classified information.
This speaks directly to his temperament.
skip fox
(19,359 posts)From the Huffington Post story:
<snip>
No publicly available video matches what Trump described. This raises the possibility that Trump was either fabricating the contents of a non-existent video, or he was disclosing information to which he has newly been granted access.
Trumps description of the top secret tape came just days after the Republican presidential nominee became eligible to receive classified intelligence briefings ― a privilege afforded to the nominees of the two major political parties in order to prepare them, should they win the White House.
A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign declined to say how Trump acquired the video.
. . .
The vividness of Trumps description of the video makes it difficult to imagine a scenario in which he made it up. He described how the video was shot by a steady hand. Nobody getting nervous theyre going to be shot because theyre taking a picture of money pouring off a plane.
<snip>
annabanana
(52,791 posts)Stinky The Clown
(67,818 posts)Turns out the initial story could have drawn a wrong conclusion.
If this is the top secret Iran video that Trump claims to have seen, it would mean that Trump told his audience a half-dozen things about the tape that arent accurate. Contrary to what Trump said about the video he claimed to have seen, this video was not shot in Iran, it did not show the exchange of cash, it was not top secret, it was not a military tape, and it was not provided by Iran. Nor was it released to embarrass the United States, as Trump repeatedly claimed.
On the contrary, the safe return of U.S. citizens to neutral Switzerland was widely viewed as a victory for international diplomacy and U.S. foreign policy.
A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign did not respond to an inquiry about whether Trump was referring to the Geneva tape.
skip fox
(19,359 posts)Then it was simply a mistake in his speech?
In which case it doesn't make him dangerously erratic with information, it makes him careless and shooting from the hip since he clearly identified it as an Iranian tape. (As the 2nd paragraph of your quoted excerpt makes clear). This also speaks to temperament, only far less forcefully.
Stinky The Clown
(67,818 posts)skip fox
(19,359 posts)Yours was a fine post.
Did you see the Washington Post story?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/08/04/questions-abound-as-trump-claims-to-have-watched-video-leaked-by-iran-of-the-money-transfer/