President Trump went on a major Twitter rant this morning. He took a big swing at pretty much everything and everyone. You can read a majority of his tweets here and here.

Given what Jennifer wrote about this morning, one of his tweets jumped out at me.

The Failing New York Times foiled U.S. attempt to kill the single most wanted terrorist,Al-Baghdadi.Their sick agenda over National Security

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2017

Yes, that’s correct. He slammed the NY Times for leaking classified information. Well did they? Yes. 

In 2015 the Times disclosed that the U.S. had obtained important information as to how ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi operated and avoided tracking.

al-Baghdadi is not a nice guy at all. The problem is, as Legal Insurrection points out, the NY Times report blew a major investigation into smithereens. Needless to say no one was amused at the time, most especially those in the intelligence community. 

In fact, with the NY Times callous disregard of classified information and their willingness to compromise our national security, the trail regarding al-Baghdadi went ice cold. 

“That was a very good lead. Unfortunately, it was leaked in a prominent national newspaper about a week later and that lead went dead,” Thomas said. “The challenge we have [is] in terms of where and how our tactics and procedures are discussed openly. There’s a great need to inform the American public about what we’re up to. There’s also great need to recognize things that will absolutely undercut our ability to do our job.” [Emphasis Added]

The New York Times isn’t the only media outlet who is happy to leak classified information in the interest of pursuing their OWN agenda – even if that agenda is completely counterintuitive to American interests and security here and abroad. The Washington Post’s breathless reporting that throws Attorney General Sessions under the bus once again is another example. However, as Powerline’s Paul Mirengoff points out, the Post buries this deep into the Russia! Sessions! story.

The Post admits that “the Russian ambassador could have mischaracterized or exaggerated the nature of his interactions” with Sessions. It notes: “Russian and other foreign diplomats in Washington and elsewhere have been known, at times, to report false or misleading information to bolster their standing with their superiors or to confuse U.S. intelligence agencies.” [Emphasis Added]

I’d say that the media is also confused by what Russia is or isn’t doing on any given day.

Here’s the deal. It’s not just the media that is at fault on this. It is the absolute fault of those within the agencies who willingly ignore the rules of classified intel in order to play political games and operate their own private agendas. They are just as at fault as the media who is all to happy to report on something while utterly disregarding the damage it can cause.

In regards to this particular tweet from the President’s Saturday morning tweetstorm, he is absolutely correct. When the animus towards one specific person or party leads to a willingness to callously disregard our national security, then the problem lies with them. NOT with President Trump.