SUNSHINE IS THE BEST DISINFECTANT:

"I faced great pressure because of Russia," Trump went on. "That's taken off." So the president is delusional as well as dishonorable.

And yet. How in God's name did the reporter gain access to a discussion in the Oval Office? According to the article, the "memcon" -- the memorandum of conversation -- was "read to The New York Times by an American official."

Let that sink in. This is a document of very limited distribution. According to sources I consulted, it typically would not have even been given to the director of the CIA. This was a leak of an extremely sensitive and highly classified document by a very senior person.

There are a number of explanations for why leakers leak. They may be trying to kneecap a rival. Sometimes leakers are embittered or just want to look and feel important. The "nut job" leak suggests something different: a real attack on the president from within his inner circle. It was designed to reveal Trump as a foolish figure and expose him to charges of obstruction. Whoever read this material over the telephone to a reporter was playing for the highest stakes.

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