President Trump Launches Leak Investigation

President Donald Trump's Administration has been leaking like a veritable sieve given the drumbeat of unnamed-sourced stories about investigations into Russian connections, conflicts of interest, high-profile firings and the general turmoil in the White House.

The President is on a mission to plug those holes, particularly after British intelligence about the Manchester bombing was leaked, which British Prime Minister Theresa May was reportedly blaming on the U.S. Administration.

"The alleged leaks coming out of government agencies are deeply troubling," he said in a statement May 25. "These leaks have been going on for a long time and my Administration will get to the bottom of this," he said, adding: "The leaks of sensitive information pose a grave threat to our national security."

To that end, he said, "I am asking the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to launch a complete review of this matter, and if appropriate, the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

There have been reports that the President would also like to be able to punish journalists for publishing leaks of classified info.

"There is no relationship we cherish more than the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom," the President said.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he was already on the case. “I share the president's deep concern and talked to Home Secretary Rudd yesterday about this matter," Sessions said in a statement e-mailed to B&C. "These leaks cannot be tolerated and we will make every effort to put an end to it. We have already initiated appropriate steps to address these rampant leaks that undermine our national security.”

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.