[Infowarrior] - Leaks crackdown sends chills through national security world

[Richard Forno]

Trump’s leaks crackdown sends chills through national security world

Agency officials say measures have been taken to isolate leakers, creating a culture of fear.

By Ali Watkins and Josh Dawsey

07/07/2017 05:11 AM EDT

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/07/trumps-leak-vendetta-sends-chills-240274

< - >

White House press secretary Sean Spicer declined to comment on fears of a crackdown but said the administration takes leaks seriously.

“This Administration understands the importance of safeguarding classified and sensitive information. Those that leak classified and sensitive information threaten our national security,” Spicer said.

But Steven Aftergood, who runs the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy, said the drive against leaks — something that was also prominent under the Obama administration — has taken on a more aggressive tone under Trump.

“What’s happening now is there seems to be a broader objection not to any individual leak so much as to the fact of independent reporting that is at odds with the White House narrative,” Aftergood said.

< - >

There are early indications that the White House considers the release of embarrassing information a transgression tantamount to the unauthorized disclosure of state secrets. Under Trump, there is concern that the full weight of these probes could be used to find political dissidents within the ranks — with the violation not being rooted in a criminal statute, but instead in Trump’s expectation of loyalty.

And there’s a feeling of fundamental unfairness, as leaks continue flowing out of the White House.

“They don’t mind the leaking as long as they control it,” one of the U.S. officials said.