By Dustin Rowles | Politics | May 16, 2017 |
By Dustin Rowles | Politics | May 16, 2017 |
In an extraordinary 17-minute press conference, National Security Adviser (and newly minted Trump lackey) H.R. McMaster — who denied the Washington Post story last night — essentially confirmed that the story was true, adding, however, that sharing the intelligence was “wholly appropriate.”
The bigger takeaway here is that McMaster noted that Trump shared the information spontaneously, and that Trump didn’t know where the information came from.
McMaster: President Trump "wasn't even aware of where this information came from." pic.twitter.com/nph2PeNTF1
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 16, 2017
In other words, the President isn’t a traitor. He’s a moron. Or a traitor and a moron, because even if he didn’t know where the intelligence came from, he should know better than to share it with a foreign enemy. The danger of Trump, however, is not lost on McMaster:
McMaster just said straight-up that US intel allies should expect more of this "sharing" in future
— MGK and MGKability (@mightygodking) May 16, 2017
that's potentially the end of the 5-Eyes
And why did Homeland Security reach out to the CIA and NSA to warn them of the breach after the meeting?
IMPT: McMaster confirmed Trump homeland security adviser Bossert reached out to CIA & NSA in "overabundance of caution" after Russia mtg
— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) May 16, 2017
You say “overabundance,” and I say, “We’re fucked.”
Still, rather than focus on Trump’s leak, McMaster tried also to turn his attention to the leak of the leak, and how informing the public that our President is a dangerous, wildly incompetent mess is the real national security danger.
“I think national security is put at risk by this leak and leaks like this,” he said.
In short: The briefing didn’t go well.
NSC official on McMaster briefing "Wow, that wasn't good."
— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) May 16, 2017
Basically this:
McMaster arguing for dismissal of the charges against his client on grounds of diminished capacity
— David Frum (@davidfrum) May 16, 2017
I still think there’s a 12 percent chance that McMaster leaked this story in the first place.