**Classified Info: Washington’s Most Powerful Weapon**
Classified Info: Washington’s Most Powerful Weapon
_Authored by J. Peder Zane via RealClear Wire (https://www.realclearwire.com/articles/2023/06/20/classified_info_washingtons_most_powerful_weapon_149375.html),_
_https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/trump%20podi.JPG?itok=aPZNJGfF (https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/trump%20podi.JPG?itok=aPZNJGfF)_
**Here’s why we should doubt the widespread claim that Donald Trump was hoarding the nation’s most sensitive nuclear and military secrets in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom: If he had, that highly classified material would have been leaked by now.**
The New York Times and Washington Post would be quoting _highly placed current and former officials familiar with the investigation_ who requested anonymity because they _were not authorized to speak about the investigation_ – but who were eager to show the danger Trump presents by revealing the secrets he held.
I suspect we have only the vague, yet frightening descriptions of the seized documents from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 37-count indictment, because **a more detailed accounting might show they are more innocuous than apocalyptic**. I could be wrong about that, but this much we know: Since Trump burst on the scene in 2015 the leaking of classified information has been the weapon of choice for his opponents at the highest reaches of government.
The Russiagate conspiracy hoax was fueled by leaks, especially from House Intelligence Committee Democrats and highly placed FBI officials; the Department of Justice’s inspector general referred former FBI Director James B. Comey for criminal investigation over leaks connected to the probe. (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/department-justice-declines-prosecute-comey-over-leaked-memos-n1047706)
**Trump is not the only target****.** One leaker gave ProPublica (https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax)the confidential tax information of thousands of wealthy Americans – a gross violation of the privacy of ordinary citizens. Another gave Politico a highly confidential, though technically not classified, draft of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning _Roe v. Wade,_ prompting the incessant, illegal harassment of conservative justices, and a plan to murder Justice Bret Kavanaugh.
One of the more duplicitous performances in the theater of D.C. politics is given each time current FBI Director Christopher Wray and his minions gravely tell Congress they cannot answer questions because they involve “ongoing investigations.” The truth is that they much prefer leaking cherry-picked pieces of information, behind the cloak of anonymity, to advance their narrative.
**Unlike Trump, leakers do not just possess secret material, they helped spread it far and wide**. And, unlike the former president, they are almost never brought to justice. The Intercept reported (https://theintercept.com/2021/03/02/trump-leaks-criminal-investigation/) that the Trump administration referred at least 344 allegations involving the leaking of classified information to the Department of Justice but that “very few referrals typically end up identifying suspects.”
None of this exonerates the former president. The special counsel appears to make a strong case that he violated the law. But the guns-blazing effort to hold him accountable cannot be separated from the fact that the rule of law in America is increasingly becoming a situational tool, invoked only at the convenience of the powers that be.
Consider the argument regarding classified documents, now widely embraced by mainstream news outlets that want to get Trump but give a pass to President Joe Biden. For decades, the possession of such information outside the area authorized for individuals to view it – a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF – was considered a crime. We don’t know how Biden ended up with such material from his days as a senator and vice president, but it was illegally removed. We also don’t know whether Biden reviewed these documents, though it is hard to believe he never saw them and even more unlikely that as they were moved and dispersed to several locations in the years since that nobody saw the classified markings and asked “the big guy” about them.
Biden’s supporters, however, are arguing that there’s “no there there” even if he took, viewed, and intentionally held the documents. All of that is now fine and dandy because he returned them when they were discovered. During a recent interview with GOP presidential hopeful Francis Suarez, ABC News presenter George Stephanopoulos (https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2023/06/15/stephanopoulos-melts-down-again-when-guest-brings-biden-documents), for example, declared that “ther…
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/classified-info-washingtons-most-powerful-weapon
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2023-06-21 00:35:00Event JSON
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"content": "**Classified Info: Washington’s Most Powerful Weapon**\n\nClassified Info: Washington’s Most Powerful Weapon\n\n_Authored by J. Peder Zane via RealClear Wire (https://www.realclearwire.com/articles/2023/06/20/classified_info_washingtons_most_powerful_weapon_149375.html),_\n\n_https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/trump%20podi.JPG?itok=aPZNJGfF (https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/trump%20podi.JPG?itok=aPZNJGfF)_\n\n**Here’s why we should doubt the widespread claim that Donald Trump was hoarding the nation’s most sensitive nuclear and military secrets in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom: If he had, that highly classified material would have been leaked by now.**\n\nThe New York Times and Washington Post would be quoting _highly placed current and former officials familiar with the investigation_ who requested anonymity because they _were not authorized to speak about the investigation_ – but who were eager to show the danger Trump presents by revealing the secrets he held.\n\nI suspect we have only the vague, yet frightening descriptions of the seized documents from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 37-count indictment, because **a more detailed accounting might show they are more innocuous than apocalyptic**. I could be wrong about that, but this much we know: Since Trump burst on the scene in 2015 the leaking of classified information has been the weapon of choice for his opponents at the highest reaches of government.\n\nThe Russiagate conspiracy hoax was fueled by leaks, especially from House Intelligence Committee Democrats and highly placed FBI officials; the Department of Justice’s inspector general referred former FBI Director James B. Comey for criminal investigation over leaks connected to the probe. (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/department-justice-declines-prosecute-comey-over-leaked-memos-n1047706)\n\n**Trump is not the only target****.** One leaker gave ProPublica (https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax)the confidential tax information of thousands of wealthy Americans – a gross violation of the privacy of ordinary citizens. Another gave Politico a highly confidential, though technically not classified, draft of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning _Roe v. Wade,_ prompting the incessant, illegal harassment of conservative justices, and a plan to murder Justice Bret Kavanaugh.\n\nOne of the more duplicitous performances in the theater of D.C. politics is given each time current FBI Director Christopher Wray and his minions gravely tell Congress they cannot answer questions because they involve “ongoing investigations.” The truth is that they much prefer leaking cherry-picked pieces of information, behind the cloak of anonymity, to advance their narrative.\n\n**Unlike Trump, leakers do not just possess secret material, they helped spread it far and wide**. And, unlike the former president, they are almost never brought to justice. The Intercept reported (https://theintercept.com/2021/03/02/trump-leaks-criminal-investigation/) that the Trump administration referred at least 344 allegations involving the leaking of classified information to the Department of Justice but that “very few referrals typically end up identifying suspects.”\n\nNone of this exonerates the former president. The special counsel appears to make a strong case that he violated the law. But the guns-blazing effort to hold him accountable cannot be separated from the fact that the rule of law in America is increasingly becoming a situational tool, invoked only at the convenience of the powers that be.\n\nConsider the argument regarding classified documents, now widely embraced by mainstream news outlets that want to get Trump but give a pass to President Joe Biden. For decades, the possession of such information outside the area authorized for individuals to view it – a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF – was considered a crime. We don’t know how Biden ended up with such material from his days as a senator and vice president, but it was illegally removed. We also don’t know whether Biden reviewed these documents, though it is hard to believe he never saw them and even more unlikely that as they were moved and dispersed to several locations in the years since that nobody saw the classified markings and asked “the big guy” about them.\n\nBiden’s supporters, however, are arguing that there’s “no there there” even if he took, viewed, and intentionally held the documents. All of that is now fine and dandy because he returned them when they were discovered. During a recent interview with GOP presidential hopeful Francis Suarez, ABC News presenter George Stephanopoulos (https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2023/06/15/stephanopoulos-melts-down-again-when-guest-brings-biden-documents), for example, declared that “ther…\n\nhttps://www.zerohedge.com/political/classified-info-washingtons-most-powerful-weapon",
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