What Are ‘Leaks’ That So Anger President Trump?

 

President Donald Trump¹ went on Twitter Thursday to talk about his continued concern about leaks. He wrote, “The spotlight² has finally been put on the low-life leakers? They will be caught!”

The president then said later Thursday that he “called the Justice Department to look into the leaks.”

Trump has been very critical of leaks from people identified in stories as U.S. intelligence officials, though some may have come from White House aides.

The information provided to the New York Times and Washington Post, among others, covered discussions between Trump’s now former national security adviser³ and a Russian diplomat⁴.

The former adviser, Michael Flynn, had told Vice⁵ President Mike Pence the discussion with the Russian diplomat did not include talk of U.S. sanctions. The intelligence officials who spoke⁶ to reporters said Flynn was not being truthful⁷.

News that Flynn had not been truthful led to his resignation, Trump said Thursday. But he called Flynn, “a fine person.”

Leaks have long been a tradition in America. It means giving information to reporters.

Often the information would not be known unless it was “leaked” to reporters. And often the people providing the information do not want their names released for fear of losing their jobs or facing other punishment.

Trump is not the first president to speak out against leaks.

President Richard Nixon had many battles with news organizations. The Obama administration aggressively investigated suspected leakers, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

“People in power never like leakers, whether we’re talking about President Trump or former President Obama,” said Roy Gutterman. He is director of the Tully Center for Free Press at Syracuse University in New York.

Notable leaks in US history

The kind of leaks Trump is criticizing is not new.

In 1973, Daniel Ellsberg gave reporters information from a secret report that the U.S. expanded the war in Vietnam without informing the public. Ellsberg, who had helped write the report, known as “The Pentagon Papers,” said Americans had a right to know.

Two Washington Post reporters received information from a source known only as “Deep Throat.” They reported stories about the cover-up of a break-in into Democratic Party headquarters. The news stories led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974. Many years later, “Deep Throat” was identified as a Federal Bureau of Investigation⁹ official.

In 2013, Edward Snowden, a contractor¹⁰ with the National Security Agency, gave thousands of documents to WikiLeaks. The documents provided information about U.S. government surveillance practices. After the release, Snowden left the U.S. for Russia.

Stories often start with call from concerned person

Many important stories start with call from a person who says something is not right where they work or live. Calls from doctors and nurses at U.S. veterans’ hospitals, for example, led to reporting in 2014 that officials were hiding long waits for medical care.

“Often the confidential¹¹ information provided by a source leads a reporter to reach out to other sources and to get documents so that a story that should be known to the public gets out,” said Gutterman of Syracuse University.

But Trump said recent leaks provided information about his discussions with foreign leaders that he considered private.

He called it “a criminal act.”

Trump has called for an investigation of leaks. So have two Republican members of Congress -- Jason Chaffetz and Bob Goodlatte in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice.

They expressed concern about release of “classified information.”

Congressman¹² Elijah Cummings, a Democrat⁸, said that Chaffetz and Goodlatte are asking for the wrong investigation.

"Congress should be doing independent oversight¹³ of the executive branch and protecting whistleblowers,” he said.

In the past, some reporters who refused to identify their sources went to prison. Among the most recent was former New York Times reporter Judith Miller¹⁴, who served 85 days in prison in 2005 for not saying who gave her the name of a Central Intelligence Agency agent.

At a Thursday news conference, Trump continued his criticism of the news media. The president said, “the leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake.”

During the 77-minute long news conference, he used the term “fake” news 13 times. This led a reporter to ask:

“If the information coming from those leaks is real, then how can the stories be fake?”

Words in This Story

leak - n. disclosure of information not known previously¹⁵ often from a person who doesn’t want his or her name known

source - n. a person who provides information to a reporter, often without revealing his or her name

surveillance - n. to keep careful watch of people

practice - n. how things are done by an organization

classified - adj. information considered secret by a government or government agency

oversight - n. to provide review of activities by people and or government

whistleblower - n. a person who provides secret information about bad or illegal activity

booster - n. someone that supports or champions someone or some group

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

8 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

10 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

11 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

12 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

13 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

14 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

15 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。