The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 11:20 AM

OUR VIEW: 08/06/2017 -  Someone Needs To Be Sent To Jail To Send Message About Damaging Leaks In D.C.

President Trump is facing an unprecedented campaign by career government employees who continue to be eager, without conscience, to sabotage his presidency with a flood of leaks to the press of classified and confidential information.

These leaks are damaging U.S. national security and constitute criminal behavior. They must be stopped. and those doing it need to be put in jail without thought of reprieve or mercy.

Some of the leaks have been of highly classified U.S. intelligence reports, including "demasked" NSA reporting concerning former National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn. There were leaks from the intelligence community that gave details about the Manchester terror attacks that almost jeopardized our relationship with Great Britain.

British authorities were livid that details that wound up in American newspapers were not even released to certain law enforcement agencies over seas because of the sensitivity of the materials involved.

Yet some asshole here in America thought divulging British intelligence would make Trump look bad. Pardon the vernacular, but this is the Great Smoky Mountain Journal, not some panty waste liberal news rag worried about offending everybody.

We're extremely upset about what is taking place and how it's affecting the President's agenda, which we believe has been a great one to get America back on track if he could just get a little help from Congress and those who are supposed to have his back.

Other leaks just this week were entire transcripts of President Trump's confidential conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia which were done in a brazen attempt to simply make the President look bad.

Then there was the false allegation that President Trump "leaked" classified information to Russian officials when he met with them in the Oval Office. Bear in mind that the president has ultimate classification authority -- he can disclose intelligence as he sees fit to advance his foreign policy. But when this got leaked to the press his enemies used it to accuse him of treason and betraying the country.

These leaks are especially serious on so many levels. One, Justice and law enforcement careerists are violating the due process rights of Trump officials by disclosing confidential information from official investigations to smear them.

Secondly and just as serious, are the constant leaks concerning investigations of Trump officials. There's no question in my mind that former FBI Director James Comey arranged to have his notes leaked to the press to hurt President Trump and influence the congressional investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Comey even bragged before Congress he did it to get a special counsel appointed to investigate Trump and because of a weak-kneed Justice Department he got his wish.

Thirdly, it also appears that anti-Trump government employees with the Justice Department and the FBI are systematically leaking a story a day to help CNN and MSNBC promote their continued false narratives that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election. What has taken place now however is that because there is no evidence of collusion taking place, the special counsel has now started delving into areas of the President's personal finances, an investigation he was never hired to do.

Mueller was hired to investigate Russia's collusion with America, not President Trump's business dealings. If he walks down this path then we all know that all of this entire debacle was nothing but a political hit job pushed by the President's enemies.

Attorney General Rob Rosenstein told Fox News' Chris Wallace Sunday that Mueller's investigation is not a fishing expedition. Not to sound coy, but this is the largest fishing expedition since Jonah went searching for the whale.

Of course it's been a fishing expedition because all things in Washington politically speaking these days are just that - expeditions.

That's why when information about a grand jury's investigation are leaked like they have been this week it just smells of a political hack job by those who hate President Trump.

These leaks are also serious on another level that affects us all in the grand scheme of things.
Justice and law enforcement careerists who hate the President are violating the due process rights of Trump officials by disclosing (and probably misrepresenting) confidential information from official investigations to smear them.

Since the “evidence” of wrongdoing by Trump officials appears too thin to produce any charges, these officials are instead using leaks to try and convict Trump officials in the press.

That is a dangerous practice! That means that any one serving in public office would be the subject of such leaks if they crossed the wrong people!

The Trump administration also must take decisive action to halt leaks of classified national security information. The most effective way to do this is to fill vacant confirmable and non-confirmable positions in policy and intelligence agencies as quickly as possible.

This should include a complete housecleaning in the NSC, State, DOD, CIA, DIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and other agencies to replace career government employees named to sensitive positions by the Obama administration.

In some cases, these career officials are actually former Obama political appointees who converted to the career civil service, a practice known as “burrowing in.”

Although civil service laws and regulations make it virtually impossible to fire career government employees, the Trump administration can reassign these officials. If this is not possible, job descriptions can be changed so anti-Trump careerists suspected of leaking no longer work on sensitive matters. Their security clearances can also be stripped.

The sad cold facts are that Trump officials will never completely stop leaks to the press no matter how hard they try. They need to recognize that leaks are always worse during Republican presidencies because the career work force tilts to the left. That said, this recent flood of leaks is an unprecedented effort by government careerists to put U.S. national security at risk to undermine an elected president.

And while they may not be stopped completely, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and those in charge have got to get tough and try.

When someone high up goes to jail the message will be sent that this behavior is immoral, illegal, and unacceptable. That message cannot be sent soon enough!
 

Christopher McDonald, Publisher, Editor in Charge

Great Smoky Mountain Journal

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