Regardless of phrases on the contrary, President Donald Trump is a person who by no means lets a superb slight go to waste.
It’s true that Trump, commenting on taking revenge on his enemies, mentioned that the sweetest revenge is success.
It’s also true that he, amongst different payback initiatives, revoked the safety clearances of 51 former intelligence officers who signed a 2020 letter orchestrated by former Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It was the letter that falsely mentioned Hunter Biden’s laptop computer from hell was Russian disinformation.
Trump additionally revoked Blinken’s safety clearance together with Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s former nationwide safety advisor, and Trump enemies Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district lawyer and New York Lawyer Common Letitia James.
Safety clearance permits a person to entry ranges of labeled info. A lot of these out of the federal government, just like the 51 former intelligence officers, use it as prestigious resume enhancers within the non-public sector.
Revoking the clearances is payback, it doesn’t matter what Trump says. His deeds typically contradict his phrases. And, as everyone is aware of, payback is a bitch, particularly when it comes from a person who remembers the boy who gave him a wedgie in center faculty.
Which brings us to Trump’s battle with the Related Press, the as soon as goal worldwide information service that, like many different as soon as revered media retailers, has gone progressive and woke.
Trump, who calls Related Press reporters “radical left lunatics,” earlier this month banned AP reporters from the Oval Workplace and Air Drive One.
The AP accused Trump of a “focused assault” on the liberty of the press.
The dispute ostensibly facilities on Trump’s renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The Related Press, to Trump’ irritation, continues to name it the Gulf of Mexico, as a result of that’s how it’s acknowledged by its worldwide viewers.
Stated Trump, “We’re going to maintain them out till such time as they agree that it’s the Gulf of America.”
Whereas the AP has filed a go well with to regain entry, Trump’s ban is payback for greater than only a dispute over the renaming of the gulf. It goes deeper than that.
His animus towards the AP goes again to Trump’s first time period as president when, in an act of outright unprofessional and biased habits, a workforce of 4 AP reporters secretly met and colluded with the FBI to take down Trump by Paul Manafort, Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign supervisor, who was underneath FBI investigation.
Manafort was later discovered responsible of financial institution and tax fraud and sentenced to jail. Nonetheless, the case had nothing to do with Trump, though the AP and the FBI sought to make a connection. Trump pardoned Manafort in 2020.
The prosecutor within the Manafort case was Andrew Weisman, who was one of many FBI brokers the AP reporters met with to trade info, as if the reporters have been an arm of the FBI.
In accordance with a June 11, 2017, FBI write up of the April 11 assembly—initially obtained by Judicial Watch— “The aim of the assembly, as was defined to SSA [supervisory special agent, redacted] was to acquire paperwork from the reporters that have been associated to their investigative studies on Paul Manafort.”
The reporters additionally offered the FBI with details about a storage locker together with the code quantity that Manafort had in Virginia which the FBI later raided.
The FBI write up of the assembly recommended that the AP reporters additionally pushed for a prison investigation of Manafort for violating FARA (the Overseas Brokers Registration Act).
The Related Press, which turned journalism on its head, didn’t report or write something concerning the assembly or its try to assist the FBI go after Manafort and Trump. Such is the state of AP journalism right this moment.
Payback is a bitch.
Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas might be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com.
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