Trump administration leaks: criminal, crucial or complicated?

Asked about the ways in which his election and his supporters might have lent strength to the forces of anti-Semitism, Trump explained that he had not been expected to win the election and that it was stunning how he had prevailed in the electoral college, then concluded that we were all going to see a lot of love.

With his own gusher of tweets, Trump is trying to reframe the story.

“Leaks are endemic to Washington, D.C. Leaks happen, and they continue to happen”.

He called Russian Federation fake news. At another point, he said: “I know how good everybody’s ratings are right now but I think that actually – I think that’d actually be better (if you were less critical)”. And will not treat the wonderful people of this country with the respect they deserve.

Trump seemed flummoxed by all the stories about the firing of national security adviser Michael Flynn and dissension within the president’s inner circle, stories that have been in heavy rotation throughout all forms of media this week.

Jeffrey A. Sterling, who was sentenced to 3 and ½ years in prison for disclosing national defense information and obstructing justice after disclosing classified information to a New York Times reporter.

The president dismissed numerous recent stories about connections between his staff and Russian intelligence officials.

Trump especially objected to accounts of his administration being in disarray.

“I was given that information”, Trump said. Of all prior administrations, President Obama was the most aggressive when it came to prosecuting leakers. How many times do I have to answer this question?

Is that the new “norm” in Washington and in the intelligence community?

“Newsworthiness” is the standard for determining when to publish information provided by anonymous sources, Baron said earlier this week.

Same with Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden.

Pro-Trump opinion hosts, like the trio on “Fox & Friends”, are taking the opposite view. Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, was a patriot. As long as the leakers are careful to protect agents in the field and needed secrecy on espionage tactics, they are doing us a favor when they expose official lies. “These are national secrets”.

MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of the memoir “Rolling Pennies in the Dark”. Kellyanne Conway’s “alternative facts” and “bowling green massacre” mishaps. Some may be leaking information – including classified information – to the media that is embarrassing or uncomfortable for the president. This is not a partisan issue.

Staff at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been told that Trump is preparing a handful of executive orders to reshape the agency, to be signed once a new administrator is confirmed, two sources say.

Others have staked out a middle ground. “He said things that weren’t true”, CNN anchor Jake Tapper said.

The Times and other outlets reported Wednesday that Trump’s campaign was in frequent communication with the Russians through the course of his campaign. “It would be the electric chair”, Trump said.