In late October, U.S. special forces raided the compound of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. The top Democrats in Congress stated that they were not notified of the raid.
According to sources of NBC, Trump told Senate Judiciary Chairman and Republican ally Lindsey Graham and Senate Intelligence Chairman and ally Richard Burr of the raid. However, he did not inform any Democrats, including those part of the Gang of Eight, who are a bipartisan group of ranking Congressional members that are supposed to be briefed on sensitive information such as raids. The reason, according to the president, was to prevent leaks about the raid that could endanger the lives of the service members.
There is no evidence that the Democrats have been leaking any information given to them. However, in the past, the President has tweeted information that was not supposed to be released yet and tweeted policy decisions that surprised officials who should have been informed earlier.
For example, during the raid, the team canine, was injured. General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that the name and photos of the canine would not be released as the dog was still overseas and would most likely continue going on missions. Days later, though, Trump tweeted a picture of the canine, and on Halloween, released the name of the dog. He also shared parts of the mission that would normally come out at the discretion of the officials more involved in it.
Another example is Trump, in August, tweeted an intelligence photo of a failed launch of an Iranian rocket. The photo was taken with such clarity that experts stated that it was beyond the capabilities of anything available to satellites utilized by public companies or organizations. It showed that the United States is flying a satellite or drone over Iran. While this information is not surprising, it could lead to Iran being more careful with what they do in the open regarding testing in an effort to limit our surveillance of the country.
Trump has also caused bewilderment by unexpectedly tweeting out policy decisions, such as when he tweeted in July 2017 that a transgender ban would be put into place for the military. Pentagon officials were caught off guard by the announcement of the policy, even though Trump stated publicly that he had consulted with his generals.
Even though Former Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was correct when she said, “[Trump] gets to decide the policy and when he’s going to say it,” it is customary that those involved with the policy know about the announcement before it is made. These officials are supposed to be informed so they can aid in making sure the policy is implemented properly and, in the case that the policy or military mission goes wrong, can aid in the aftermath. Informing them is not supposed to be a partisan decision. The president should not inform his closest allies while neglecting to do the same for the other party because of the impeachment inquiries going on.
While the president can declassify information, there is no proof that he went through the process to declassify the two pictures mentioned and the name of the canine. If this habit continues, serious information could come out that puts national security at risk. In fact, Trump could have done this when he revealed classified information to Russian officials in May of 2017. There is a reason that the information goes through the checks it goes through to ensure that information that could potentially be used to harm the nation is not leaked.
The main reason Trump does what he wants with the presidency is simple: this is what he used to do when he ran his business. When he wanted something done, all he had to do was say what he wanted, and a person would attempt to get it done at the drop of a hat. He is not used to all the bureaucracy that surrounds the government, and he is not used to having to inform anyone else besides his friends, of his actions. Add in the issue of the Democrats investigating his actions through the inquiry, and Trump will not inform them of his actions for fear of being criticized.
Because of what we’ve seen during his presidency, if the president truly wanted to keep the raid and its details a secret, he shouldn’t have had his advisors tell him about it. This way, the details would have not been leaked on Twitter.
