Sometimes them Democrats surprise me, assuming he means it. Senator Mark Warner is calling for Congress to investigate the leaking of transcripts from phone calls President Donald Trump had with some other world leaders.
This needs to be done but will they?
As reported by The Daily Caller:
Congress needs to investigate the “disgraceful” leaks of President Trump’s private conversations with world leaders, a top Democratic senator said on Thursday.
“A president of the United States, a governor would tell us they’ve got to be able to have confidential conversations,” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner told The Daily Beast. “And I think it was disgraceful that those [came out].”
Warner is the top ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Whether that is Intel or Judicial [committees] looking into it, somebody ought to,” the senator told The Daily Beast.
The Washington Post published Thursday morning leaked classified transcripts of Trump’s private conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia. The phone calls took place shortly after Trump’s inauguration but were just now leaked to the Post.
As reported by Fox News:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director William Evanina are all expected to brief the public at Justice Department headquarters.
It’s unclear whether the Post leak might be investigated by the DOJ.
To prosecute someone for this, Burns said there are “certain elements that obviously have to be shown.” He said “there can be dust-ups over that,” citing the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails and the decision not to prosecute.
Those considerations include the markings and history of the document and its exact classification. If classified, prosecutors would look to see if it was disseminated to an unauthorized person in a manner that negatively affects the interests of the United States.
“If all of those things can be proven, people can very definitely be in harm’s way for criminal exposure,” Burns said. “No question.”
Speaking of the transcripts of Trump’s phone calls, diGenova, who prosecuted espionage cases, said these documents are “generally classified at secret and above.”
Claiming the leaks imperil the ability of the U.S. government to conduct foreign policy, diGenova called on the attorney general to institute a federal criminal grand jury to find the leakers. He also said the phone records of the reporters and editors of The Washington Post should be subpoenaed, something the journalists would surely protest.
On Capitol Hill, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee said Thursday there should be criminal prosecution for leaking classified information.
“Whoever leaked these needs to be found out and needs to be reprimanded, needs to be fired,” Lee told Fox News’ “America’s News HQ.” “This is unacceptable and should never happen.”