"... Protect Journalists released a report arguing that Obama had waged the most aggressive “war on leaks” of any president since Nixon. According to the report, “Those suspected of discussing with reporters anything that the government has classified as secret are subject to investigation, including lie detector tests and scrutiny of their telephone and email records.”
But “Obama would have done it too” isn’t even the best reason to resist the argument that Winner’s arrest represents a disturbing new stage in Trump’s campaign against leakers. That’s because Trump, in his heart of hearts, doesn’t care that much about leakers like Winner, whose disclosure to the Intercept concerned intelligence on Russian military operations aimed at interfering with the 2016 election. The leakers Trump cares about—the ones who stir rage in him and cause him to fantasize about jailing journalists—are the ones who release information that personally embarrasses him and make him feel like he can’t trust the people around him. The motivating emotion behind the unhinged rants he has delivered on the subject of leaks is that he expects loyalty from the people around him and deeply resents anyone who makes him look like a fool..."
Reality Winner’s arrest is not part of Trump’s “war on leakers.”
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