Dem hypocrisy? Sen. “Leaky” Leahy demands independent prosecutor to target Trump
This week, Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, reiterated his call for an independent investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election claiming President Donald Trump and members of his administration colluded with the Russian government to hurt the campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“The Intelligence Community has made public its conclusion that Russian President Putin waged a multi-faceted influence campaign to delegitimize Secretary Clinton and help Donald Trump win the Presidency. Worse, he intended to undermine public faith in our democratic process. And this interference did not end on November 8th. It is ongoing and, according to the Intelligence Community, President Putin will continue using cyber-attacks and propaganda campaigns to undermine our future elections. This is nothing less than an attack on our democracy. It should outrage all of us,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy.
In addition, Sen. Leahy accused Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s of havng “the goal last year… to undermine our democratic institutions—to corrode Americans’ trust and faith in government. If we do not get to the bottom of Russian interference, he will no doubt be successful. And he will no doubt do it again. I hope that we can stand united in calling for a truly independent investigation. The American people deserve nothing less.”
But some Beltway insiders believe Leahy is once again being a hypocrite of the first order, which the news media ignores. During the Ronald Reagan administration Leahy was the target of a huge investigation over his leaking of classified information. As a result, he is affectionately known in Washington as “Leaky” Leahy because of his propensity for leaking secrets to the news media, who were more than happy to help thwart President Reagan.
Leahy’s habit of leaking secrets for his own political agenda caused his removal from his vice-chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Sen. Leahy has been a driving force for the creation of an independent commission, but Senate Republicans are against such an action.
In a previous article, the Conservative Base provided readers with a brief history of Sen. “Leaky” Leahy’s experience in handling top security information:
Senator Patrick Leahy was annoyed with the Reagan administration’s military strategy in the 1980s. At the time he was vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Therefore, “Leaky Leahy,’ threatened to sabotage classified strategies he didn’t like.
Leahy “inadvertently” disclosed a top-secret communications intercept during a 1985 television interview. The intercept had made possible the capture of the Arab terrorists who had hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro and murdered a American citizen. But Leahy’s leak cost the life of at least one Egyptian “asset” involved in the operation.
In July 1987, it was reported that Leahy leaked secret information about a 1986 covert operation planned by the Reagan administration to topple Libya’s Moammar Gaddhafi. US intelligence officials stated that Leahy sent a written threat to expose the operation directly to then-CIA Director William Casey. Weeks later, news of the secret plan turned up in the Washington Post, causing it to be aborted.
A year later, as the Senate was preparing to hold hearings on the Iran-Contra scandal, Leahy had to resign his Intelligence Committee post after he was caught leaking secret information to a reporter. The Vermont Democrat’s Iran-Contra leak was considered to be one of the most serious breaches of secrecy in the committee’s 28-year history.
After Leahy’s resignation, the Senate Intelligence Committee decided to restrict access to committee documents to a security-enhanced meeting room.
“So where did the big mouth go? To the Judiciary Committee where he still has access to classified information and documents. He’s known as a man who’s more than willing to speak out on issues he knows absolutely nothing about. In fact, while attempting to sound as if he were a legal scholar, he’s made several flubs. During a debate on the Geneva Conventions, for example, he finally admitted he wasn’t familiar with the provisions he was debating,” said former police detective and political strategist Sid Franes.
Leahy served as U.S. Senator from Vermont since being elected in 1974. Leahy is ranked first in seniority in the U.S. Senate.
