Whistleblowing and Leaks: From Patriotic to Petty

In public discourse, much has been made about the importance of whistleblowing and leaks in uncovering illegal actions within the government. Leakers and whistleblowers are usually praised for their selflessness, sacrifice, and patriotism; paragons of virtue who made tough decisions and placed the good of their country above their safety, comfort, or ideology. The presidency of Donald Trump has given rise to an unprecedented level of leaks and whistleblowing which has been gleefully processed by the media and consumed by many in America. Leaking has become so frequent that White House meetings called about leaking start by acknowledging that the meeting decrying leaking will itself be leaked. While good arguments can be made about the importance of the whistleblower on Ukraine, it would be foolish to not acknowledge that many of the leaks in the administration are a result of bureaucratic resistance to President Trump and petty political differences, not patriotism.

Examples of leaks reflecting bureaucratic resistance and individual distaste for President Trump abound and include the leaking and weaponizing of the President’s schedule, the President’s phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, insulting remarks about SenatorJohn McCain during a White House meeting, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly calling the President an “idiot” during a meeting, President Trump calling African countries “shitholes”, internal documents about vetting senior officials, and many more. These leaks are done to denigrate the President and his staff, derail his policies, and sow discord in Washington.

This sort of “resistance” to the President amounts to little more than petty gossip rather than evidence of criminality or wrongdoing. There can be no mistaking the intentions of these leaks: government employees dislike the President and choose to use their privileged position to disclose confidential information with the hopes of embarrassing and obstructing the President. These leaks are done to craft a narrative of an incompetent and chaotic White House, with a leader unequal to the requirements of the presidency. Government employees have a responsibility to serve the elected leaders of our country and carry out their policies, barring an illegal order. Leaking, resisting, and slow rolling a President whose policies you dislike is not patriotism but selfishness and does a disservice to our country and its citizenry. An important consideration to be made is that the next President may be one that you like and whose policies you want to see enacted. Would you still find the same sort of petty leaking listed above to be patriotic?