Leaks

“The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by “intelligence” like candy. Very un-American!” – Donald J. Trump tweet 2-15-17

Maybe President Trump has forgotten what won him the election, leaks, specifically WikiLeaks disseminated by his friend and partner in crime Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

For any of you old enough to remember President Nixon’s Watergate scandal the term Deep Throat will be familiar to you. Deep Throat was the nom de plume given to the secret informant who provided (leaked) information to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post about Nixon and his administration’s role in the Watergate scandal. 31 years later, a family attorney stated that former FBI Associate Director Mark Felt was Deep Throat.

“You must pursue this investigation of Watergate even if it leads to the president. I’m innocent. You’ve got to believe I’m innocent. If you don’t, take my job.” – Richard M. Nixon

If you go back to my previous post, I was only thirteen when Nixon resigned but I remember much about the events that were taking place. My Dad was in the media business and as such news and current events were an ongoing topic in our home. Dad subscribed not only to the local paper, but also the Wall Street Journal, and the news magazines Time, US News and Newsweek. If he asked you a question about some newsworthy event “I don’t know” was not an acceptable answer given the number of resources we had at our disposable.

“Michael Flynn, General Flynn is a wonderful man. I think he has been treated very, very unfairly by the media, as I call it, the fake media in many cases. And I think it’s really a sad thing that he was treated so badly.” – Donald J. Trump comments 2-15-17

The Mike Flynn situation is similar to Watergate in that it took a leak or leaks and The Washington Post to uncover it. Like Watergate if it hadn’t been for the Fake News guys we may never have known about Trump’s national security adviser’s covert calls to the Russians. Now I am sure some of you deplorables are saying “what’s the big deal”, Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer said nothing illegal was done, out of the mouths of babes. If Flynn lied to the FBI that’s illegal, and if he accepted payments from the Russians and didn’t disclose them that’s illegal too. Oh yea, and how about the possibility that the Russians try to blackmail him? 

“The political lesson of Watergate is this: Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the terms of a national election.”- Gerald R. Ford

I just have one question for all you Donald Trump supporters, if you knew then what you know now would you still have voted for him on November 8, 2016? I am pretty sure I know the answer. I’ll ask it again in thirty days or so.

“The fact of the Watergate cover-up is not nearly as interesting as the step into making the cover-up. And when you understand the step, you understand that Richard Nixon lied. That he was a criminal.” – Bob Woodward

Dan Rather’s Facebook post about the Flynn vs. Watergate scandal.