Dick Morris: Who Were the Leakers? Comey and Clapper

During the opening months of the Trump administration the whole country asked: Who are the leakers?

Stories kept springing from the anti-Trump mainstream media based on the dossier funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign with all sorts of totally inaccurate information designed to discredit the new president.

Where did they come from? We all wanted to know.

Now, based on the information contained in the House Intelligence Committee report, we know. They were Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and FBI Director James Comey.

Despite his denials — under oath — to Congress, DNI Clapper leaked information about the dossier and its contents to Jake Tapper of CNN.

Its phonetic. James to Jake. Clapper to Tapper. DNI to CNN.

For his part, Comey has admitted leaking the memo of his meeting with Trump that led to his dismissal to a friend with an understanding that he would also leak it.

Perhaps these top law enforcement officials don’t get it: Leaking is a crime. Leaking a conversation with the president, that includes classified information, is a felony. And a top government official leaking inaccurate, partisan material compiled by a political campaign to the news media and dignifying it with his imprimatur is definitely a violation of our tradition of free elections.

Now questions loom:

Do you think Comey and Clapper should face criminal charges?

Will these leakers escape scot-free?

Will Comey be rewarded with millions in book sales for his felony?

Will Clapper succeed in almost removing a president for his?

Or will they be subject to our laws and punished for their crimes?

For the director of intelligence community and the head of the top counterintelligence bureau in the government to peddle partisan lies to the media in the closing months of a hotly contested presidential election in its closing months is surely more serious than the posting of misleading and inaccurate Facebook entries by anonymous Russian intelligence agents.

I am much more concerned about being manipulated and lied to by the leaders of our own government than I am by enemy agents.

Both are crimes, but when our own intel operatives lie to us, that’s also an outrage!

Dick Morris is a former adviser to President Bill Clinton as well as a political author, pollster and consultant. His most recent book, “Rogue Spooks,” was written with his wife, Eileen McGann.

The views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website.

Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers' newsfeeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share to your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you.