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View Full Version : Are leakers heroes or traitors ?


tomder55
Apr 14, 2023, 04:34 AM
Depends on who's ox is being gored. Massachusetts Air National Guard named Jack Teixeira ,in an effort to impress his on line friends ,armed with scissors and Gorilla glue,
leaked a number of sensitive national security docs . How he was able to move them out of the very secure area he worked is a separate issue. I kinda doubt anyone up the chain of command will be held accountable for the breach,

The leaks undermined the carefully crafted fiction we have been peddled that our multi $$ billions of dollars given to Ukraine has made the war a counter-offensive away from a stunning Ukraine victory . That Americans now know the truth makes Teixeira a traitor ... right ?

Flashback to 2016-17 A "senior U.S. government official," leaked the contents of intercepted phone conversations to Compost columnist David Ignatius . This was a call from incoming National Security Advisor Michael Flynn to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. .They discussed future Trump policies toward Russia. It was a legitimate call for Flynn to make . Since the polices would be a departure from those of the emperor ;Flynn was treated as a traitor and by extension the anonymous leaker a whistle blowing hero.
Ignatius wrote

"According to a senior U.S. government official, Flynn phoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak several times on December 29, the day the Obama administration announced the expulsion of 35 Russian officials as well as other measures in retaliation for the hacking. What did Flynn say, and did it undercut the U.S. sanctions? The Logan Act (though never enforced) bars U.S. citizens from correspondence intending to influence a foreign government about "disputes" with the United States. Was its spirit violated? The Trump campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment."

Opinion | Why did Obama dawdle on Russia’s hacking? - The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-did-obama-dawdle-on-russias-hacking/2017/01/12/75f878a0-d90c-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html)

This set off a whole series of events that knee capped the Trump administration before it ever took office . They were subject to an endless stream of criminal investigations .
What did the compliant press say ?
CNN wrote
"The only reason we're finding out about it now is because a patriot did leak this to The Washington Post, did get this information out there, or else we wouldn't even have known about it," Joe Scarborough said on MSNBC on Tuesday morning."
How leaks and investigative journalists led to Flynn's resignation (cnn.com) (https://money.cnn.com/2017/02/14/media/michael-flynn-investigative-journalism/index.html)

Atlantic's David Frum also called the leaker a hero

David Frum on Twitter: "Tonight’s resignation reminds both why patriots should cherish a free & independent press - and why Donald Trump so fears & hates it" / Twitter (https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/831358899819335680)


So called heroes went to town. Transcripts of phone called with Trump from Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull and Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto were leaked. No one demanded the leaker's arrest .

Then 2019 pro-Ukraine imbedded White House "hero" Alexander Vindman did not like Trump's departure from what he decided should be American policy towards Ukraine. So he found a hero whistle blower who leaked part of a conversation between Trump and Ukraine President Zelensky. (or was it Vindman who gave the whistle blower the information ?) The Dems in Congress took that information to their first kangaroo court impeachment of Trump.

I have no doubt that Teixeira will be severely punished for his folly . I am sure he had no agenda beyond impressing his group of chat friends . Others like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning had agenda's opposed to the administration. That made them traitors .

But leak information that supports the administration and it's compliant press' carefully crafted narrative and the leaker is a hero worthy of a ticker tape parade.

tomder55
Apr 14, 2023, 11:31 AM
True or false ?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FtpxEDBaYAMqUVW?format=jpg&name=small

tomder55
Apr 14, 2023, 01:24 PM
on a daily basis you can find anonymous sources quoted in the compliant press that disseminate the government narrative. Those sources are rarely hunted down
Who was the 'Senior Government offfical " who fed David Ignatius the content of the Flynn phone call ? We will probably never know.

But unauthorized leaks are a horse of a different color . All restraints are lifted and often the compliant press is recruited to hunt them down.

Texiera is just the latest example . The compliant press is working over time doing character assassination on the man.

Back during Vietnam the compliant press did not work as a propaganda branch of the government . Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon papers exposing the government's lies about the war. The government broke into his psychiatrists office to dig up dirt to discredit him.
Office of Ellsberg's Psychiatrist Burglarized | Crime, Corruption, and Cover-Ups | Explore | Drawing Justice: The Art of Courtroom Illustration | Exhibitions at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress (loc.gov) (https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/drawing-justice-courtroom-illustrations/about-this-exhibition/crime-corruption-and-cover-ups/office-of-ellsbergs-psychiatrist-burglarized/#:~:text=Gordon%20Liddy%2C%20to%20break%20into,%22 gross%20misconduct%22%20toward%20Ellsberg.)


That was one of the reason's for Nixon's downfall . Today the press would've applauded such a move by America's intel agencies .

My how times have changed .

tomder55
Apr 14, 2023, 02:01 PM
Matt Taiibi writes

When civilians or whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, Julian Assange (in jail for an incredible four years now), Reality Winner and now the “Discord Leaker” bring leaked information to the public, the immediate threat is Espionage Act charges and decades of jail time. When a CIA head or a top FBI official does it, it’s just news. In fact, officials talk openly about using “strategic leaks (https://www.wired.com/story/leaked-pentagon-documents-ukraine-discord/)” as a P.R. staple. In a world where media currency is becoming the ultimate power, these people want a monopoly. It’s infuriating.

The Crackdown Cometh - by Matt Taibbi - Racket News (https://www.racket.news/p/the-crackdown-cometh)

tomder55
Apr 16, 2023, 04:56 PM
First the Slimes and the Compost helped hunt down Texiera .

Now they are reporting on the content of the leaked docs .

Leaked secret documents detail additional Chinese spy balloons - The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/14/chinese-spy-balloon-leaked-documents/)

What We’re Learning From the Leaked Military Documents - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/podcasts/the-daily/pentagon-documents-ukraine.html)

New Leaked Documents Show Broad Infighting Among Russian Officials - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/world/europe/russia-intelligence-leaks.html)

So these compliant press arbiters of truth think the content of the leaks are newsworthy .

Here is what is really happening . The government has given access to them a trove of docs that they want the compliant press to report to the public


Flashback 1975 The Church Committee that was formed after Watergate disclosed that the CIA 's 'Operation Mockingbird 'recruited leading American journalists into a propaganda network

Operation Mockingbird (spartacus-educational.com) (https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKmockingbird.htm)

The CIA admitted that at least 400 journalists and 25 large organizations around the world had secretly carried out assignments for the agency.

Wondergirl
Apr 16, 2023, 05:12 PM
First the Slimes and the Compost helped hunt down Texiera .

Teixeira.

tomder55
Apr 17, 2023, 05:15 PM
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ft8EgQwWcA8uIr0?format=jpg&name=small

tomder55
Jan 22, 2025, 03:18 PM
Let's call this the Vindman effect

National Security "experts" are loaned to the President to work in the White House . It is reported today that before they are on board this time they are being questioned about their loyalty to his agenda. The presumption is that a President should have a loyal staff.

That was not the case in his first term.

Once burned twice shy as they say.

As noted in various postings the reason that Trump was impeached the 1st time was because Alexander Vindman did not like a conversation that Trump had with Zelensky. You see Vindman (now a Dem Rep from Virginia ) did not like the conversation because it went against what he thought US policy should be with Ukraine.

Trump wants to avoid something similar . So he is questioning these staffers on loan .


At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

Trump team questioning civil servants at National Security Council | AP News (https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-nsc-loyalty-waltz-21913da0464f472cb9fef314fed488e5)


The NSC staff members being questioned about their loyalty are largely subject matter experts who have been loaned to the White House by federal agencies — the State Department, FBI and CIA, for example — for temporary duty that typically lasts one to two years. If removed from the NSC, they would be returned to their home agencies.