Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Sunday warned Attorney General Jeff Sessions that if he decides to crack down on leaks by legally pressuring reporters to reveal their sources, that strategy “has the potential for making bad law.”
“The leaks right now are really bad. I’ve never seen it this bad. There should be a concerted effort to identify and go after leakers,” Johnson said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
Johnson said he would give Sessions “one note of caution.”
“Bad facts make bad law,” he said. “So before you decide to take on journalists, reporters, and perhaps subpoena their sources, be aware that the courts are going to get involved, and that has the potential for making bad law in this area.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday announced the Justice Department will adopt a new strategy to combat leaks of intelligence information, including a review of “policies affecting media subpoenas,” suggesting that Sessions may use the court system to try and pressure journalists into revealing their sources.
Johnson: Leaks right now are really bad. I've never seen it this bad. There should be a concerted effort to identify and go after leakers pic.twitter.com/m7aAlPqAzP
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 6, 2017
Bad law is OKIYAAR.
The Administration is deeply offended by the leaks not because they pose a threat to national security, but because they’re deeply embarrassing. The leaks expose incompetence, ineptitude, corruption, lies, and thorough ignorance. Information the American public deserves to have.
If you want to catch people who threaten our security, maybe they ought to focus on the guy who wants to use secure Russian communications. Or maybe the guy who gives away our submarine locations. Or all the guys who lied about meeting with Russian agents. Or the guys paid off by foreign sources.
I don’t believe Sessions will go after the leakers, because he would be going after Trump and his employees.
Yes, it’s all mouth. Probably a subtext of that phone call from Kelly was “look, you’re out on a pass. Make the right noises, don’t make waves and you’ll be fine.”
“Bad facts make bad law,” but alternative facts are an excellent source of spin and deflection.