This Is Bad

The Constitution talks about “High Crimes and Misdemeanors”. We still use the term “misdemeanor” in most states to indicate an offense that could result in a sentence of up to a year in jail, while “high crimes” are usually called “felonies” which can result in a prison sentence of more than a year to life.

An example of a high crime/felony would be discussing the contents of a Presidential briefing with a Russian foreign minister. This would probably result in a life term for anyone except the President who can declassify documents, even codeword documents, whenever he feels like it. It doesn’t matter that it could get someone killed, that it will cost us a source of information, that it assists the Islamic State, the President can do it. We know about this because some people believe that the President shouldn’t have done it. If I was still in the business, I would have done what I could to let people know.

People die gathering intel. It’s bad enough when the bad guys are trying to take you out; you don’t need your “Commander in Chief” helping them do it.

Update from the BBC:

“The story that came out tonight, as reported, is false,” National Security Advisor HR McMaster told reporters outside the White House.

“The president and foreign minister reviewed a range of common threats to our two countries, including threats to civil aviation.

“At no time, at no time, were intelligence sources or methods discussed, and the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known.”

Parse this statement. Excellent work General McMasters using “as reported” to qualify what you were saying. I was hoping that the story wasn’t true, but you have convinced me it happened He didn’t identify things as sources and methods, but he revealed them during the discussion about threats to civil aviation. Thanks for clearing that up.