Washington Free Beacon senior writer Adam Kredo argued Tuesday that the epidemic of Trump White House leaks is the "weaponization" of intelligence by former Obama administration officials.
Kredo appeared on "Tipping Point" on One America News Network to discuss a recent Senate investigation into the shocking number of national security leaks from the Trump administration since its inception.
"I'd call it startling, it really is, and the word you used, 'unprecedented,' is certainly true," Kredo said. "We've never seen a leak environment like this, where it's not just political information, but classified national security intelligence."
Unlike in previous administrations, Kredo said, "the leaks of information are not about informing the press about information or operations or situations that may have been taking place under cover of dark and they're releasing this information or leaking it to help or inform the country, but in fact the information here, the leaks, are about weaponizing national security intelligence and classified material to undermine the Trump administration, and really handicap the national security apparatus."
"It's about Trump being made to look bad, rather than really informing the American public and the press," he said.
"Tipping Point" host Liz Wheeler brought up the number of leaks concerning Russia: 78 percent of all leaks.
Kredo said that the "narrative of collusion and now obstruction" was obviously a "big deal," but also pointed out that the nature of the leaks was focused on "trying to paint [Trump] in a certain light," along with members of his inner circle.
"Again, the goal of this is not to reveal something that the American public should know; it's about making Trump look bad. So weaponization of this information is really what's paramount," he said.
Wheeler pointed out that 50 percent of National Security Council staffers were holdovers from the Obama administration, which, she said, is "insane to me."
"It's become very clear that those on the outside, that is former officials with the NSC under the Obama administration, and their friends on the inside, are talking routinely, and they're leaking to the press," Kredo said.
Those publishing leaked stories are "the same reporters that were getting leaks during the Obama administration," Kredo noted.
"The dots are pretty easy to connect here. It's not some sort of crazy deep-state subterfuge. It's actually quite up front what they're doing," he said.
And, Kredo said, papers like the New York Times and Washington Post were running leaked information with the "slant" of the leakers, rather than trying to get to the truth of the matter.
"What reporters should be striving for is fairness," he said.