# Trump & the WaPo (& various leakers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 16, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744 "2017-05-16T13:39:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744/61 "2017-05-16T22:15:11Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > There’s this: OK. I agree there’s good reason to call it a breach of etiquette. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744/62 "2017-05-17T01:21:30Z")
I’m surprised nobody here has mentioned the [Valerie Plame affair.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plame_affair) Of course, that was a deliberate act of vengeance by the Bush/Cheney administration to punish/discredit an individual, the consequences be damned. Unlike Trump, they knew exactly what they were doing. Hard to say which is worse – being evil, or being stupid. ---
**Author:** ![ganthet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@ganthet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ganthet)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744/63 "2017-05-17T02:03:15Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > More from that article: > > ["There is a](https://www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/israeli-official-trump-sharing-intelligence-with-russia-is?utm_term=.bk1QbX5GKw#.urXG3w9vAW)special understanding of security cooperation between our countries," he said. “To know that this intelligence is shared with others, without our prior knowledge? That is, for us, our worst fears confirmed.” And just to add on, particularly sensitive intelligence information is often restricted to certain countries, using limiting language stamped on the documents and reports themselves (setting aside SCI), such as SECRET//REL USA, UK. This would mean that the document should be restricted from being shared outside of US and UK personnel with the appropriate clearance and need to know. Or TOP SECRET//REL FVEY, meaning that the document should be restricted from being shared outside of the appropriately cleared Five Eyes personnel (US, UK, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian). In this instance, it seems likely that the information had been designated TOP SECRET//REL USA, ISRAEL, given the restrictions/expectations that Israel apparently had when providing it to U.S. intelligence agencies. Trump prefers verbal briefings to having to read anything and even when he does read things, he reportedly merely scans it as opposed to really reading it. So, it is very possible that he missed any kind of intelligence restricting labels if he even read documents that contained this intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744/64 "2017-05-17T02:38:44Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/world/middleeast/israel-trump-classified-intelligence-russia.html?\_r=0](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/world/middleeast/israel-trump-classified-intelligence-russia.html?_r=0) > > > [@](#): > > > > Former officials said it was not uncommon for presidents to unintentionally say too much in meetings and said that in administrations from both parties, staff members typically established bright lines for their bosses to avoid crossing before such meetings. The problem is Trump evidently hates reading and is bad at listening. What’s his staff supposed to do, blast an air horn every time he starts to stray too far off script? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744/65 "2017-05-17T02:43:55Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Hard to say which is worse – being evil, or being stupid. Don’t you mean being evil and competent vs. evil and stupid? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744/66 "2017-05-17T03:35:44Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > …What’s his staff supposed to do, blast an air horn every time he starts to stray too far off script? I find this suggestion has a lot of appeal to me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744/67 "2017-05-17T03:55:50Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > More like, you went out of town for a long trip and forgot to lock your doors. Someone finds out about it and goes about publicizing in all available venues: “ **TERRIBLE SECURITY BREACH!!! AIRBECK IS OUT OF TOWN FOR A LONG WHILE AND DID NOT LOCK HIS DOORS!!! THIS COULD LEAD TO THIEVES ENTERING HIS HOUSE AND STEALING ALL HIS POSSESSIONS!!!** ” No, it’s not at all like that. This was nothing like a situation where somebody was giving out information that a crime was possible. The Washington Post reported on an event that had already occurred. In terms of your metaphor the burglars had broken in, ransacked the house, and made their getaway. Then the next day, the local paper reported the robbery and suggested their readers should take steps to prevent a similar crime happening in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744/68 "2017-05-17T04:27:16Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > But ISTM that the greater harm was done by the WaPo themselves, plus the leakers. Because from what I’m reading (including in the Post, which I unfortunately can’t definitely link because I’m over my monthly limit, but which is probably [here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/05/16/this-is-why-trumps-loose-tongue-has-compromised-u-s-security/?utm_term=.a598a374626e)), the main damage is not from the fact that the Russians have this knowledge but from the fact that the Middle Eastern ally knows that the Russians have this knowledge via Donald Trump. So by publicizing this fact, the WaPo itself is creating the damage. This whole thread is based on a false premise. The very same WaPo story you’re criticizing for letting the middle east ally know that the information had slipped also says that White House officials immediately called the CIA and NSA so they could warn the middle east ally that the information had slipped. That was five days before the story broke. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744/69 "2017-05-17T04:35:28Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > The problem is Trump evidently hates reading and is bad at listening. What’s his staff supposed to do, blast an air horn every time he starts to stray too far off script? > [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I find this suggestion has a lot of appeal to me. Shock collar might work better. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744/70 "2017-05-17T05:00:20Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > The problem is Trump evidently hates reading and is bad at listening. What’s his staff supposed to do, blast an air horn every time he starts to stray too far off script? His staff are supposed to report all this to cabinent / congress so they can remove him from office under the 25th amendment as unfit to serve (this is a different process from impeachment). A President that can’t comprehend and understand the different types and classifications of intelligence is quite simply incapable of doing the job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-wapo-various-leakers/786744.md?page=3)