General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Leaks! [View all]
Today's press conference by Attorney Genital Elfin Sessions brings the nation's focus to the issue of leaks. By attempting to publicly kiss Trump's ass publicly, Sessions has raised the question of if he will now replace Sean Spicer as a soft target on Saturday Night Live. We'll have to wait, of course, because of Sessions's stern lecture on dangerous media leaks.
In the mean time, let's take a brief look at leaks, before the weekend reports on Trump's tantrums. There are, of course, several types of leaks: those that endanger individuals, those that endanger national security, and those that are associated with whistle-blowers. Sessions seeks to roll them all into one type, which translates into what is known as an outright lie. Clearly, he knows that his boss has a deep affection for purposeful lying.
The vast majority of the leaks pertaining to the Trump-Russian scandal are coming directly from the White House now. From late January until mid-May, the majority came from individual whistle-blowers inside the intelligence community. Why the shift? Let's use one example to illustrate, shall we?
The information that journalists received regarding Donald, Jr.'s meeting with the Russian attorney came from Jared Kushner's legal team. They were aware it would come out anyhow, and so they attempted to deflect responsibility from Jared to Junior. When Junior released a pathetic statement that claimed the meeting was about adoption, it did not hold up any longer than Trump's initial claim as to why he fired James Comey.
Almost immediately, it was leaked that Trump had assisted in creating Junior's lie. The White House denied this with wild abdomen, which indicated that Trump played an even larger role. Leaks from within Trump's team documented that the president actually dictated most of Junior's initial lie. For Trump is, if nothing else, consistent in his pathological lying.
All of this clearly caught the attention of Mr. Mueller's team of investigators. It not only provided definite proof that three of candidate Trump's top people were eager to obtain dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government, but the story fit into Trump's pattern of attempting to obstruct justice. Hence, Mr. Mueller sought a federal grand jury, which has almost unlimited power to obtain documents, as well as to compel testimony, relating to the meeting.
No one from Mr. Mueller's team, or from the grand jury, leaked the news that was reported upon yesterday. That didn't happen. Instead, we can look to Jared's legal team they who have been contacted by the grand jury for the identity of the leakers.
This is not to suggest that Mr. Mueller was surprised or upset by the leak. He anticipated it, and knew who would be most likely to leak. This is the tension phase of the investigation, when prosecutors seek to turn up the heat. This White House is notorious for having little groups of little people fighting over turf
.and now they are increasingly prone to turning on one another. Jared, for example, has no qualms about turning on Junior and Manafort because he believes Trump will surely pardon his reproductive error. And Jared never wants his hands to get dirty.
Now, let's consider the topic of leaks within the context of an OP I posted here yesterday evening, titled A Secret Team. Historically, the art of leaking was mastered by the intelligence community during WW2. But let's look at two more recent examples though both date back to before WW2. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was a champion at leaking. His unhealthy obsession with other people's sex lives comes to mind. He used information on politicians, including President Kennedy, to try to maintain his unholy power in Washington.
Hoover was deeply offended by Martin Luther King, Jr.'s love of sex, and often attempted to peddle his smut to journalists and others. When he failed in these attempts to discredit King, he ordered a tape and letter to be sent to King's home, that literally told Martin to kill himself. Hoover himself authored the incoherent letter.
The other example is Richard Helms. He learned the craft of strategic leaking from Allen Dulles. However, during Helms's career, he far surpassed his former supervisor. He learned that leaking was the single most powerful tool he had for perception management in both domestic and foreign adventures. Again, Col. Prouty details this in his book, The Secret Team.
President Trump is, by far, the most ignorant person ever to serve in the Oval Office. He does not have even a seventh-grader's grasp of American history. (Sad.) But several of the people he has surrounded himself do. These people fit into two groups: the first are the paranoid Bannon-types, who are dimly aware of what is taking place, and who support Trump, and second, those who support the United States
.and who leak.
Prepare for an entertaining weekend.