[WaPo] Trump Revealed Highly Classified Information to Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador

Political Correctness is always more important than actually governing and that pesky national security and you know health care and such. I mean, you could die with your pre-existing condition because Trump gave you great health care that doesn't cover you but that's no big deal as long as the gays can't get married.

It's remarkable the degree to which people will vote against their own economic interests and the future of their children based on idiotic culture wars.

 

Yea, great points. It says a lot to me, that when relatively credible reports (nothing proven yet, but I think we can all agree on the saying "where there's smoke there's fire") to the Russian ties, EVERY SINGLE politician didn't immediately stand up and demand the the truth, and justice. Instead, we received a few Republicans who stood up for what they felt was right (i.e. John McCain), the vast majority of Republicans who either said nothing, or tried to justify/defend the president's actions, and then you had the democrats see this as a great chance to earn political points (generally speaking) - not the greatest reaction either.

We're not talking about Canada or France here, we are talking about freaking Russia. And this entire "ho hum, nothing to see here" reaction from the Republicans spoke volumes. The vast majority are putting party over country, and I find that sickening and unjustifiable.

 

This is the "main" concern in your world, really?

Talk about out of touch with reality, c'mon man, you are better then this, I believe in you.

 

One man's leaker is another man's patriot...

Information on Whistleblower Protection Act and Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act
A federal agency violates the Whistleblower Protection Act if it takes or fails to take (or threatens to take or fail to take) a personnel action with respect to any employee or applicant because of any disclosure of information by the employee or applicant that he or she reasonably believes evidences a violation of a law, rule or regulation; gross mismanagement; gross waste of funds; an abuse of authority; or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has jurisdiction over allegations of whistleblower retaliation made by employees of the SEC.

• Whistleblower Protection Act Complaints should be sent to
  U.S. Office of Special Counsel
  Complaints Examining Unit
  1730 M Street, NW, Suite 201
  Washington, DC 20036-4505
  
  
• The required Whistleblower complaint form is available online at
  OSC (www.osc.gov)

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Securities and Exchange Commission will also investigate allegations of retaliation against SEC employees for cooperating with the OIG or for other protected activities. For information on how to report reprisal to the OIG, see http://www.sec.gov/oig.

The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 protects federal employees who disclose evidence of waste, fraud, or abuse. Under the Act, the statement below, upon this or other notice, is incorporated into the SEC’s nondisclosure policies, forms, or agreements in effect before the Act’s effective date of December 27, 2012:

These provisions are consistent with and do not supersede, conflict with, or otherwise alter the employee obligations, rights, or liabilities created by existing statute or Executive order relating to (1) classified information, (2) communications to Congress, (3) the reporting to an Inspector General of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, or (4) any other whistleblower protection. The definitions, requirements, obligations, rights, sanctions, and liabilities created by controlling Executive orders and statutory provisions are incorporated into this agreement and are controlling.
The controlling Executive Orders and statutory provisions referenced in the statement include the following, as of January 15, 2014:

• Executive Order No.13526 (75 Fed. Reg. 707) (prescribing a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national-security information), or any successor thereto;
• Section 7211 of title 5, United States Code (governing disclosures to Congress);
• Section 1034 of title 10, United States Code, as amended by the Military Whistleblower Protection Act (governing disclosure to Congress by members of the military);
• Section 2302(b)(8) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 (governing disclosures of illegality, waste, fraud, abuse or public health or safety threats);
• Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 (50 U.S.C. 421 et seq.) (governing disclosures that could expose confidential Government agents);
• Sections 7(c) and 8H of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) (relating to disclosures to an inspector general, the inspectors general of the Intelligence Community, and Congress);
• Section 103H(g)(3) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 403–3h(g)(3)) (relating to disclosures to the inspector general of the Intelligence Community);
• Sections 17(d)(5) and 17(e)(3) of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 403q(d)(5) and 403q(e)(3)) (relating to disclosures to the Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency and Congress); and
• Statutes which protect against disclosure that may compromise the national security, including sections 641, 793, 794, 798, and 952 of title 18, United States Code, and section 4(b) of the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 783(b)).

The foregoing statement is also provided in accordance with the requirements under section 715 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Pub. L. 112–74, December 23, 2011, as extended by subsequent acts).



http://www.sec.gov/eeoinfo/whistleblowers.htm

I think our president's behavior can be seen as a clear and present danger to the well-being of our country.

 

Absolutely that's the main concern, and would be the case even if it was the Obama white house being this leaky. You simply can't have people doing these kinds of things to try and score political points. People like that are absolutely a threat to national security.

 

Or maybe, just maybe, the people in charge (the president, among others)....shouldn't act like they have been?

Which one is the root of the problem?

 

Again, the ONLY wrongdoing was on the part of whoever it was that leaked the story to try and create a "scandal of the day" especially given that the story falsely framed what happened according to what we know.

 

Its a gross generalization, but mostly true. And they aren't afraid of being marginalized. They're angry they have already been marginalized.

I don't think its as simple as the above. America has always changed (or evolved if you prefer). I think its a function of 2 things. First, the speed of change/evolution with almost no real discussion of the ramifications. Second, the list you mention fails to mention their perception of the cultural foundations of this country changing drastically or disappearing. Limits on speech for one. Institutions of civilization (like the police or religion) under attack for another. Privacy another. The left is attacking almost everything that got the country to be where it is today is how they see it.

Kinda but very incomplete answer. When change is coming, the first thing anyone thinks is "How will this affect me?". If the answer is, I don't know, that's going to mean push back. It's not necessarily fear of change. Its a sense of I'm being left behind and nobody gives a ****. And who could blame them when that is exactly what has already happened to them?

Meanwhile, learning to live and co-exist with blah blah blah is not it at all. We're already doing that. That's why america is called the melting pot. I grew up in a "red state" where almost every person I went to high school with left to get the education and employment they desired. I think your perception of Trumpers being unable or unwilling to do what it takes to compete in this economy is skewed and a huge generalization.

It's more about watching much of what they've known and loved growing up systematically being changed and in many cases being attacked. Its almost as if in order to allow the inclusion the left champions, the status quo has to be destroyed first. Given that Trumpsters have mostly thrived in the environment under attack its not surprising to see them resist.

Sure. Change always comes. But change is only accepted and becomes a permanent cultural change when the vast majority recognizes it to be a benefit. Same as it ever was. Just don't be surprised if the change you expect turns out to be quite different in the end.

 

Depends on what your goal is I guess. If the goal is to bring down Trump, the best and ONLY way to do that is chip away at his base of support while maintaining the unassailable foundation of fact and reason.

I'd say that so far, that hasn't happened.

 

Hate to say it man, but this is just flat out wrong. It might be real to you in your warped reality, but it is still wrong.

No need to go back and forth, because I am 100% sure that nothing I will say will change your mind. I'm not even looking to change your mind, but I will simply say that you are wrong. Good luck buddy!

 

Okay, if you think what I'm saying is wrong, explain what it is that you think I'm wrong about and why you think I'm wrong about it. That's how you further the conversation.

 

Really? That's the only wrongdoing here? You are like a bad parent that never disciplines their special snowflake child. The rest of us adults see the spoiled brat as he is. Get control of your child, Bobby.

 

Regardless of the legality, this was pretty stupid of Trump to do. According to CNN, they were explicitly told not to report on the source of intelligence related to the laptop bombs by the Trump admin. Yet Trump reveals it anyway to the Russians. There's no way you can square those two together. The Trump admin told the media that reporting on the source would endanger lives and threaten our intelligence gathering abilities. And yet our goofball of a president does it anyway.

How people are still defending the Trump administration is just beyond me.

 

Yes, really. The president has the authority to share whatever intelligence that he wants to share with whoever he wants to share it with, it's part of being the ultimate classification authority. On top of that, in what world is sharing information about a threat to civilian passenger airlines, which is what has been put out there thus far, something that shouldn't be done?

I've had this problem in the past on this board where people who know nothing about classified information or the intelligence community run their mouths based on the spin of talking heads and it never ceases to annoy.

 

It's never been suggested that Trump revealed the source of that intelligence to anyone. In fact, it's been said that sources and methods were not discussed.....in fact the only reason the source (Israel) of the information got out was due to the leaks.

 

Right but the Washington Post reported that he revealed information in a way that allowed the Russians to infer the source and methods. There's a lot of legalese in the responses of the administration.

I realize you'll say something to defer to the administration but the administration hasn't actually disputed the Post. They've simply stated that he didn't explicitly reveal a source or methods. Mind you that we haven't even shared this info with our allies but the Russians know this now.

On a side note, is anyone tired of winning yet? All of this Trump winning is just too much for me.

 

And that has been directly and explicitly denied by those in the meeting.....so basically you are going based on the story rather than based on the facts which again just shows that you simply want to believe and aren't concerned with the facts that are known.

It just shows that a large part of the population is more concerned with trying to create a "scandal of the day" than they are about anything else including national security. It's why people like that can't be taken seriously.

 

Sure, I have no ill will towards you or anyone else on this board (life is too short to be worried about a person with a keyboard, haha), so I am definitely up for a quick respectful back and forth.

You said the "ONLY" wrongdoing was on the whistle blower, the person who leaked the news for simply political points.

There is simply no way for you to know that, and being so vehemently sure shows to me, that no matter what the actual truth is, you have already determined who is "right" here and who is "wrong." How are you sure that nothing wrong or nothing bad (for the lack of a better term) went on behind closed doors? Because Trump said so? The same guy who has made several false claims, that could be easily detected and verified as flat out wrong? Due to his history of pathological "un-truths" he has lost credibility in my eyes. And I feel that anyone else who can honestly sit back, and "objectively" come to the conclusion that either the president or his white house aides can be trusted, must have a hidden agenda, or a very obvious bias.

Not that they are evil, or they are 100% wrong in everything in life, but simply that there is an alarmingly large bias, and several who rush to defend/justify his actions (while at the same time immediately condemning his "enemies," or the other side). So I will absolutely admit that I don't know exactly what happened, but what is entertaining and unfortunate to me, is that when people (on both sides mind you) will make these absolute claims about stuff that they can't possibly back. So at least I know that I don't know.

Therefore, I find the certainty of your claim to be false. And if I don't immediately respond, it's not out of disrespect, or that you got me, but more than likely that I got caught up with work, or life, and I don't have the time to go back and forth with you. Pretty lame excuse, I know, but I'll definitely try.

 

It's so sad to see the handful of once proud anti trump conservatives on this bbs actively shoveling the s*** coming out of the prolapsed anus that is this administration.

 

My problem is that while you say that you know you don't know, that's not at all what you are trying to say. You are trying to say that I am "100% wrong", that's you suggesting that you know otherwise......and you admit that you don't know what actually happened and you probably don't know that the president is the ultimate classification authority meaning that him sharing intelligence is literally never wrongdoing. At the same time the person that leaked that information is absolutely committing a crime so that's why I say that the "real problem" is the person committing crimes.