Silencing Those Darn Embarrassing Whistles
Remember the Pentagon Papers? Too long ago? What about the second Signalgate, the chaos in the Defense Department, the unsecured internet connection in Hegseth’s office so he can let his wife, brother and lawyer know about military operations? The Trump administration won’t let that sort of embarrassment happen to them anymore, if Trump criminal defense lawyer Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has anything to say about it.
Is it fair to call the leakers “anti-Trump”? Perhaps. It certainly doesn’t help Trump for people on the inside to tell reporters about the problems, the lies, the corruption and incompetence. The problem has two sides. The first is the leakers themselves, the ones who have knowledge and information that reveals what’s really going on. The second is the reporters to whom the information is revealed, who publish it so that the public is aware of the failures of their government. So the attorney general, who some might believe has a duty to the Constitution and the nation before the guy in the Oval, has a plan.
In a memo first obtained by Axios, Bondi wrote that federal employees intentionally leaking sensitive information to the media undermines the ability of the Department of Justice to keep America safe.
“This conduct is illegal and wrong, and it must stop,” Bondi wrote. “Therefore, I have concluded that it is necessary to rescind Merrick Garland’s policies precluding the Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from members of the news media in order to identify and punish the source of improper leaks.”
Is leaking illegal and wrong? There is a reason why whistleblowers are protected by law, because we can’t trust government to tell us when they screw up or engage in illegal activities, so the only way we could know is if someone on the inside who still has a shred of integrity reveals the misfeasance and malfeasance.
But it’s often hard to know who the “unnamed sources” may be, as they could be any one of dozens of people with knowledge of, or access to, the embarrassing information being fed the media. And publishing such revelations are protected by the First Amendment, even though there remains no express federal shield law to protect journalists from threats of prosecution for making the administration look as bad as it is.
While caselaw exists, and determinations are made on a case by case basis, reporters remain vulnerable to attack by the government. To their credit, most reporters and media outlets are willing to brave the potential threat, and publish the information they’re given. But that means the leakers remain hidden behind journalist’s privilege and fortitude. So Bondi has come up with a workaround in order to identify the leakers so the government can punish them for telling the unpleasant truth the administration would prefer to conceal.
She added the protections were being abused, with officials using “media allies” to leak sensitive information for political gain, and the policy often put their phone and other electronic records out of reach of prosecutors, Politico reported.
The memo comes after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday referred two intelligence community professionals accused of leaking classified information to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
The professionals allegedly shared classified information with the Washington Post and the New York Times, according to previous reporting.
A third criminal referral is expected, the DOJ said.
In the age of smartphones, there is a mechanism that records many, if not most, of the sources of leaks, and providers keep a list of what calls were made to whom. In the past, the administration made a determination that it would be wrong to force cellphone providers to turn over records whenever the government wanted them. There were instances, of course, where the investigation involved conduct so serious that it warranted this extreme action, such as disclosing secret information that could enable a foreign adversary to harm the nation, but they were few and far between.
Bondi, however, is changing the game, making the forced revelation of cellphone data available as a resource whenever the government wants it, including when information is leaked that makes Trump look particularly Trumpian.
Leaders like @AGPamBondi, @FBIDirectorKash, @SecDef, @Sec_Noem, @CIADirector, & @DNIGabbard deserve agencies that serve the country — not whisper to the press. DOJ is working directly with them to root out internal leaks & restore trust in our institutions.
Does it restore trust in our institutions to strike fear in whistleblowers that they will be outed if they disclose information that shows the problems, the lies, the corruption and incompetence of the Trump administration? It does it you’re Bond, K$sh Patel, Hegseth, Noem, Ratcliffe or Gabbard. How RFK Jr. got left off that list is a mystery, although he tends to provide all the embarrassingly insane and dangerous information to the media without their asking.
