John Dickerson Reviews Leaks In The Russian Investigation
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - John Dickerson, Moderator of Face The Nation, discussed Donald Trump's continued criticism of news emanating from the FBI investigation into Russia's involvement with the presidential election, telling Chris Stigall on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that the information coming out does have real consequences.
"Leaks are not universally good or universally bad. It is, in general though, a bad idea to have them sloshing around all the time because what happens is, two things, one, lose the ship shape you need or the tightness of structure that you need when you're dealing with national security information and, secondly, then people start to think that it's all politicized."
He believes there have been certain releases in the last month that violate the law and established protocols.
"It depends what they're leaking. It's always in an administration's interest to declare all bad news coming from within the administration a 'dangerous leak.' But, there are some specific things that are illegal, obviously, ongoing investigations, phone calls the president had with world leaders."
Dickerson also thinks the way the FBI has handled recent cases has muddied the way they are handling the Russian case.
"The old rule was easy, you don't talk about it until you've got a conclusion. That's what's bedeviling the investigation or investigations into Russian meddling in the election for Russian collusion with Trump officials is that it's coming out through leaks and it shouldn't be. Everybody just wait until the investigation is over and then have a final say."