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'Morally bankrupt': Former Defense Secretary shreds Trump over national security failings
June 09, 2023
Former President Donald Trump's disrespect for the security of classified information really amounts to a disrespect for the men and women behind that classified information who put their lives on the line for the country, argued former Bill Clinton Secretary of Defense William Cohen on CNN Friday.
This came after the release of the 37-count indictment against the former president secured by special counsel Jack Smith.
"When you read the transcript of the former president saying to a room full of just people who were there to hear from him and suck up to him, none of whom had security clearances, saying, you know, this is highly confidential, it's secret. This is secret information. Look. Look at this, and showing them a document," said anchor Anderson Cooper. "I mean, did you ever imagine a president, or somebody who had been president, would do that?"
"Well, Anderson, I felt that he was unfit to be president, unfit to be commander in chief, from the very beginning," said Cohen. "I felt that initially and I didn't vote for him, and I spoke out against him because I saw his character shining through, how he criticized John McCain not being a hero, how he embarrassed a reporter who had a disability, how he actually criticized a Gold Star family during a convention."
Trump's behavior throughout the 2016 campaign, Cohen continued, "told me that the care he was lacking in character and was morally bankrupt."
"And as far as dealing with our men and women who serve us, he's in Arlington National Cemetery looking over the gravesites with John Kelly, General John Kelly, whose son is buried there and said, what was in it for all these people?" added Cohen. "What was in it was the fight for democracy, which is something he apparently doesn't really understand."
Watch below or click the link.
William Cohen on Trump's disrespect for national securitywww.youtube.com
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Don't count on Trump's sprawling federal indictment for removing and compromising highly classified information to turn the tide on Republican support, warned reporter James Risen for The Intercept on Friday — as he is essentially a "cult leader" and his followers are in a "fever dream" of loyalty and grievance.
"The Republican Party has devolved into a cult of personality, where every new piece of evidence of their leader’s criminality becomes another reason for his followers to defend him," wrote Risen. "Donald Trump has now been indicted twice in just over two months, in separate cases involving accusations of unrelated crimes. Both times, Republicans have rallied around him. The group of whiners and weaklings who are running against Trump for next year’s Republican presidential nomination are so intimidated by his hold on the party’s base that they are afraid to publicly tell the truth, which is that Trump is a thug who should be in prison instead of the White House."
The problem for Republicans, continued Risen, is that this isn't even where it is likely to end — more indictments could be coming.
"Trump faces the very real possibility that he will be indicted at least two more times this year, in cases related to his efforts to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election," wrote Risen. "In Georgia, he could be charged later this summer for his efforts to change the outcome of the presidential election in the state, which Joe Biden won. A separate federal investigation is underway into Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and his broader efforts to overturn the presidential election."
And criminal charges aren't the only concern, either; Trump is also facing a civil fraud case against his family and company by New York State, which they are are attempting to stonewall. And all of this overlooks all the legal matters in Trump's rearview mirror, like his double impeachment and the Mueller Report.
"Will four criminal indictments, a wide-ranging civil fraud case, a civil sexual abuse and defamation verdict, two impeachments, a stalled obstruction of justice case, and 30,573 lies be enough to wake up Republicans?" wrote Risen. "During the early days of his 2016 presidential campaign, after he began to attract huge crowds of zealous supporters, Trump famously said that 'I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.' He is currently testing that theory. So far, the Republican Party is proving him right."
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A former cabinet official who served in the Trump administration said Friday that the indictment against his former boss isn’t politically motivated, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Mark Esper, who served as Secretary of Defense under Trump, expressed his view about the 37-count indictment Trump is facing in connection with the handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago while speaking before business and political leaders in downtown Salt Lake City, the report said.
“I think some of the investigations have been politically tinged against him. This one, I don’t think so,” Esper said.
Esper said the allegations against Trump are “serious.”
“It was clear he had classified documents. I know what’s important about handling classified documents. This is serious. If you were a young soldier, sailor, or airman and had classified documents at your home, you’d be court-martialed. You could see jail time.”
Esper did not say whether he believes his former boss broke the law.
“There are two basic principles. Nobody is above the law, and everybody is innocent until proven guilty,” Esper said.
Trump appointed Esper Acting Secretary of Defense June 19, 2019, and the Senate confirmed him to the post July 23 of that year. Trump fired Esper Nov. 8, 2020 in a tweet.
Esper on Friday issued a call for unity among growing hyperpartisanship.
“The wings of the two parties are pushing the reasonable middle around. We get trapped in these partisan fights. We get trapped in the name-calling,” Esper said.
“We have an enormous debt of $32 trillion. The interest on that debt we pay every year is about $500 billion. The defense budget is $800 billion. We have to fix our debt problem, but we’ll never get to that until we solve our partisan differences.”
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