Krauthammer: Leakers Are Trying to ‘Injure’ POTUS and Should Be Prosecuted, Going After Reporters Is a ‘Losing Proposition’

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” columnist Charles Krauthammer argued that while leakers should be punished and there are people in the national security agencies who want to hurt the president, prosecuting the reporters won’t win in court.

Krauthammer said, “I thought we adjudicated this in Watergate days. We have an odd system, but it is a traditional one, where if there’s an unauthorized leak of classified information, it’s illegal, the person who goes to jail is the leaker and not the receiver. We do want to have some protection for the First Amendment, simply because we believe that the press needs to have protections, even if some of them are unwarranted on the face of it, because of the larger issue of having a free press, and not being subject to prosecution. I think this is a losing proposition. I think in the end, the Supreme Court will likely rule as it did 30-40 years ago and uphold the prerogatives of the press.”

He continued, “I do think the reason for the tripling of the leaks, or at least a great increase in the leaks is simply because there are people in the national security agencies who are opposed to Trump as a person and to the policies. This is not a mystery. This has to do with the fact that they are — it’s not just the disrespect for the office. They want to injure the president. That’s very clear, and they ought to be punished because it’s a betrayal of their oath.”

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