Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, says the president should track down the people leaking information in violation of “secrecy acts” and throw them a jail, a move Gingrich says would cause the “leaks [to] dry up dramatically.”
.@newtgingrich: "You start putting a few people in jail, you'll see the leaks dry up dramatically." pic.twitter.com/K5SFp8WXvD
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 28, 2017
“I want to draw a distinction,” Gingrich told “Fox and Friends” on Sunday. “There’s political garbage, there are people who go across to the Starbucks near the White House, and they sit and they tell insider stories. That’s unfortunate, and you ought to fire them if you can find them, but that’s not the same as violating the secrecy acts. People who violate the secrecy acts ought to go to jail.”
“What happened with the Manchester information, for example, after the bombing in Manchester, undermined the British investigation, weakened our relationship to our allies, and is dangerous,” Gingrich continued. “Whoever leaked that should go to jail. Now, you start putting a few people in jail, you'll see the leaks dry up dramatically."
Gingrich’s comments about Manchester refer to leaks within the intelligence community revealing important information about the United Kingdom’s investigation of the Islamic terrorist attack in Manchester, England, on Monday, in which a suicide bomber killed 22 innocent people and wounded more than 60 after an Ariana Grande concert.
On Thursday, U.K. officials temporarily suspended intelligence sharing with U.S. agencies after details about the terror investigation were leaked to the press.
On Friday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States takes “full responsibility” for the leaks.
"We take full responsibility for that and we obviously regret that that happened," Tillerson said, according to a Reuters report. "With respect to the release of information inappropriately ... certainly we condemn that."
On Sunday, Trump said on Twitter U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May was “very angry” about the leaks.
“British Prime Minister May was very angry that the info the U.K. gave to U.S. about Manchester was leaked. Gave me full details!” Trump wrote.
British Prime Minister May was very angry that the info the U.K. gave to U.S. about Manchester was leaked. Gave me full details!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2017
The Trump administration has been forced to deal with numerous leaks—some illegal, others merely political inconveniences—from the very start, and big media outlets, including many that have been overtly critical of Trump, have relied on unnamed sources in many of their most damaging reports about the president and his administration.
On Sunday, Trump once again dismissed any reports relying on unnamed sources, saying, “Whenever you see the words 'sources say' in the fake news media, and they don't mention names …. it is very possible that those sources don't exist but are made up by fake news writers. #FakeNews is the enemy!”
Whenever you see the words 'sources say' in the fake news media, and they don't mention names....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2017
Justin Haskins