Wednesday, February 15, 2017

"Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?"


And when did he know it?

Yates communicated her concerns to White House Counsel Don McGahn, a longtime Trump adviser whose main qualification was his loyalty to Trump and knowledge of business and campaign finance. He knows little or nothing about national security.

But what chance is there that McGahn would not have told the president about the warning from Yates?
Was never the right question, even when applied to Richard Nixon.  It isn't necessary to prove Trump masterminded contacts with Russia, approved of conversations with Russian intelligence operatives, knew his people were talking with Putin's people.  It's only necessary to prove such contacts happened, by people appointed or even just allowed to work for, Donald Trump.

The buck stops there.

The genial dunce defense of Ronald Reagan, who actually was genially dense because of an organic brain condition which should have disqualified him from remaining in office under the 25th Amendment, doesn't apply here.   Reagan was still responsible for what Oliver North & Co. did, because he was the President and North was on his staff.  Was the President criminally responsible?  That's the high bar of "what did he know, and when?".  That standard doesn't apply here.  The standard here is:  why is the President establishing an administration this incompetent, or possibly even corrupt, and certainly since January 20, not preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution of the United States of America?  Because that's the standard the President must be held to, or the oath of office is an empty sham.  And if the President cannot oversee his own staff and be sure they do not, at a minimum, harm the national interests of the country, then what business does he have being President?

And that whole question of who is "leaking" this "classified information"?  Bullshit.  These reports are coming out of the FBI, as part of their investigations into the Trump Administration and the Trump campaign.  The source of the information is not Edward Snowden.  It is information that may soon be the basis of a criminal charge.  Trump is screaming about "leaks" because he's been pantsed on the national stage.

Richard Nixon tried the same defense, before he was forced to release the information that finally drove him from office.

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