So about that Rob Porter story. Recently, we found out that Rob Porter, an alleged wife beater, was kept on the job and in control of highly sensitive information, and thus open to blackmail, after, Chief of Staff John Kelly became aware of the allegations.That is on top of the fact that Jared Kushner hasn’t gotten his full security clearance yet for reasons we don’t know, perhaps for his involvement in the ongoing Russia debacle, while he’s had access to Trump’s daily briefing, one of the most tightly classified documents in the building. Oh, and the Nunes Memo Saga, where some crank abuses his power on the House Intelligence Committee to craft the most underwhelming bombshell in decades.
At least they didn’t try to do government business on a private email server. That would have been worse than Obama in a tan suit.
In all fairness, what with the lack of care about deficits and personal conduct defining the Republican Party these days, we can probably assume that the idea of “being careful with classified materials” never really mattered beyond its use as a cheap cudgel to gain political power. “The GOP is mired in bad faith” is something of a dead horse for this column, and it won’t really matter to their hardcore partisans anyway, since Trump and his ethnocentrism is now the point as opposed to fiscal conservatism.
With regards to the “man” with a “plan,” Donald Trump still won’t acknowledge and do something about the incoming threat of Russian interference in the 2018 elections. Whether Putin’s efforts helped that much in 2016, and the effectiveness of any influence campaign is hazy at best, he shouldn’t be allowed to escalate his efforts. Given that Trump was willing to break the law and not implement sanctions passed via a veto-proof majority, conceal the purpose of that Trump Tower meeting during the campaign, and put our democracy at risk, I’m wondering why he too still has a security clearance.
Logan Graham is a senior studying media arts with a focus in games and animation at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What are your thoughts on Trump? Let Logan know by emailing him at lg261813@ohio.edu.
