BvBPL
Pour Decision Maker
The Trump administration, like every other White House, has been plagued by leaks from staffers to the media. While such leaks are generally unwanted by the executive branch, relatively few prior presidents have been as concerned about leaks as Pres. Trump.
In the wake of transcripts of Pres. Trump’s conversations with foreign heads of state following his inauguration, Attorney General Sessions, long under fire from Trump for inaction on leaks, has initiated a leak crackdown. This morning Sessions suggested that such leaks are acts of treason and stated he’s initiated wide-scale investigations of leakers, triple, he claims, the number of those under Pres. Obama. A.G. Sessions stated today that four people have already been charged in regards to the leaks, but whether those are four new people or include individuals already in the public eye for leaks, like Reality Winner, is unclear.
A.G. Sessions has, perhaps remarkably, indicated a willingness to subpoena the media in such leak investigations. Under wiretap laws, the A.G. may subpoena journalists to reveal the sources of the leaks they receive. This may place journalists between a rock and a hard place; revealing a confidential source will violate journalistic ethics, but choosing not to under court order may subject the journalist to contempt charges, as happened with Judith Miller in 2005. Top Trump adviser Kelly Anne Conway believes the answer is for the media to be careful in the information it prints, presumably weighing the public's right to know versus the national interests at stake.
A.G. Sessions’s claim that that his office is engaging in triple the number of investigations of prior president is a bit questionable. Pres. Obama’s White House far and way eclipsed investigations by prior presidents into leaks. Of course Pres. Obama had seven a half more years in office than Trump to conduct leak investigations; if Trump’s administration keeps pace it could pass the “transparency president’s” prior record on criminalizing the release of truthful information.
In the wake of transcripts of Pres. Trump’s conversations with foreign heads of state following his inauguration, Attorney General Sessions, long under fire from Trump for inaction on leaks, has initiated a leak crackdown. This morning Sessions suggested that such leaks are acts of treason and stated he’s initiated wide-scale investigations of leakers, triple, he claims, the number of those under Pres. Obama. A.G. Sessions stated today that four people have already been charged in regards to the leaks, but whether those are four new people or include individuals already in the public eye for leaks, like Reality Winner, is unclear.
A.G. Sessions has, perhaps remarkably, indicated a willingness to subpoena the media in such leak investigations. Under wiretap laws, the A.G. may subpoena journalists to reveal the sources of the leaks they receive. This may place journalists between a rock and a hard place; revealing a confidential source will violate journalistic ethics, but choosing not to under court order may subject the journalist to contempt charges, as happened with Judith Miller in 2005. Top Trump adviser Kelly Anne Conway believes the answer is for the media to be careful in the information it prints, presumably weighing the public's right to know versus the national interests at stake.
A.G. Sessions’s claim that that his office is engaging in triple the number of investigations of prior president is a bit questionable. Pres. Obama’s White House far and way eclipsed investigations by prior presidents into leaks. Of course Pres. Obama had seven a half more years in office than Trump to conduct leak investigations; if Trump’s administration keeps pace it could pass the “transparency president’s” prior record on criminalizing the release of truthful information.
