Americans might like to think that our Pentagon and military leadership in the White House operate on a higher plane and that leaks at that level are rare. But former Secretary of Defense Esper says that, at least in the Trump administration, not only were they common, not only were they hurtful, not only did they often twist the truth, but that the Commander in Chief was also the chief leaker. The one guy that couldn’t be fired and self-anointed global strategist, Trump, often decided what he would leak and to whom. It is even scarier when one considers that Trump had a special affinity for our chief adversary, the Russians.
According to Business Insider:
“The individual motivations for the leaks ranged from advancing a preferred policy outcome to enhancing the leaker’s own role or credentials to currying favor with the president.
“It was a noxious behavior learned from the top. The president was the biggest leaker of all. “It turned colleague against colleague, department against department, and it was generally bad for the administration and the country.
“Nobody wanted to see their name in the morning news, especially when the words were so often twisted, misinterpreted, and taken out of context. “In the Trump administration, this could get you blacklisted or fired.” – Former Defense Sec. Mark Esper, in his new book.
It is probably difficult for those of us who didn’t serve how dispiriting this would be to those who did serve and were made aware of the importance of keeping information, even personal gossip (which can then become kompromat) secret. Our military operates on a large presumption of secrecy. One of the most tightly guarded secrets in the Navy is the location of our submarines at any given time. It is so secret that many of the sailors on the sub don’t know their location in their theatre.
Small details, analyzed by the right people, can lead to major revelations. And so once again we hear yet another example as to just how reckless and plain old stupid the last president could be.
The world is safer right now than two and a half years ago. That’s no secret.
Trump was the 'biggest leaker of all' in his administration and it was 'generally bad' for the country, his former Pentagon chief says https://t.co/kTeQwnKJzL
— John Haltiwanger (@jchaltiwanger) May 10, 2022
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