Dave Helling: In Washington, leaks are fundamental
The Trump administration is providing unexpected moments of humor in its first weeks.
Thursday, the president tweeted his disgust with leaks. “Leaking, and even illegal classified leaking, has been a big problem in Washington for years,” he wrote.
Leaking, and even illegal classified leaking, has been a big problem in Washington for years. Failing @nytimes (and others) must apologize!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2017
Well, yes. Centuries, really. John Adams dealt with leaks during the notorious X-Y-Z affair. Richard Nixon’s staff actually created a leak-seeking team called the Plumbers.
President Barack Obama’s White House pursued leakers, to general outrage. Every president deals with information oozing into the public domain.
But Donald Trump is in no position to complain. “I love Wikileaks!” he once said.
Computer hacking is also illegal.
Some Democrats think Wikileaks cost Hillary Clinton the White House. No. Clinton lost because of poor campaign choices and voter weariness.
And leaks didn’t cost Michael Flynn his job as national security adviser. Trump forced out Flynn because he lied.
It’s hard not to smile when Republicans claim the real scandal is leaked information, not Flynn’s contacts with Russia. In Washington, leaks are as common as A-B-C.
Dave Helling, dhelling@kcstar.com
This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Dave Helling: In Washington, leaks are fundamental."