The president’s war against the free press
(NSA and FBI?). Just like Russia.”
A few hours later, he sounded like the “shocked, shocked” prefect in “Casablanca” as he tweeted about “classified information (being) illegally given out by ‘intelligence’ like candy. Very un-American!”
Un-American? On the contrary, Mr. Trump, welcome to Washington.
Leaks big and small are so common that Stephen Hess, a veteran of four presidential administrations beginning with Dwight Eisenhower’s, once categorized types of leaks in a book.
They included the “Ego Leak” to satisfy a sense of self, the “Policy Leak” to bring attention to a proposed policy change, the “Trial Balloon Leak” to test out a proposal, the “Whistleblower Leak” to bring attention to a problem or idea through the press after getting nowhere internally and the “Animus Leak” to settle grudges.
Yet as much as every president is frustrated and infuriated by leaks, the laws against leaking are almost never enforced. That could change under Trump, who ironically would have new tools left by President Barack Obama’s administration.
A 2013 report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, on whose board I happen to sit, found that Obama had pursued the most aggressive “war on leaks” since President Richard Nixon’s leak-fixing “plumbers” led to the Watergate scandal.
Under Obama the Department of Justice pursued not only sources and whistleblowers but also journalists, including James Rosen at Fox News and Jim Risen at The New York Times. As with most earlier cases of this sort, the government backed away from that pursuit.
Is Trump just blowing off steam through his Twitter account, or could his war escalate into full legal combat, putting reporters in jeopardy of jail for doing their jobs? The public might prefer to have the information than see journalists go to jail.
Besides, putting reporters in jail might just backfire and make journalists, Trump’s favorite foils, actually look sympathetic. He might well prefer to leave us free — and an easy target to kick around some more.