Is Bachmann revealing secrets?

My wife insisted that I watch all of the Blitzer moderated 2 hour foreign policy debate  last night.  Wolf did a great job.  Michele Bachmann is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  In that capacity she receives briefings at the highest levels of classification from officials of the IC and State Department.  She has access not because she has a clearance but because of her constitutional office.  This is a separation of powers issue.  It seemed to me that Bachmann said a lot o things during the debate that were the result of the briefings that she has been given.  I won't repeat them for the obvious reason.  She is probably immune from prosecution but it should be clear that classified information should not be used as an instrument with which to beat one's political opponents.  pl

Comments

[PS]

Listening to NPR this morning, I heard one quote from her that sounded dangerously close to revealing classified information. She was rebuking one of the other candidates, possibly Rick Perry. She simply could have said something about how her time on the committee gave her insights into the complexities of the situation and that glib answers weren't useful in the real world. But then again, she isn't on the PSCI because of her skills.

[DFS]

It's happened before. As I recall JFK used his knowledge of administration plans with regard to Cuba to get an edge on Nixon in 1960. Although in his case it was a carefully planned tactic, whereas with Bachmann it could easily just be yet another case of her brainstem hooking directly to her tongue.

[The beaver]

Colonel

Someone else is talking about that:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/did-michele-bachmann-really-reveal-classified-intelligence-during-cnns-gop-debate/

[JohnH]

And Bachmann looks so good is a Palestinian keffiyeh pattern jacket! Too bad she doesn't have the 'aql to go with it! ('aql translates as "mind" and also as the double ring the goes over the top, originally used to hobble ornery camels.)

[Fred]

The Speaker of the House should ensure the Representative is held to the correct standards for a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence - othewise she should be removed as a member of the Committe.

[smoke]

Emptywheel finds this information published, almost word for word, in an article by Jeffrey Goldberg and Marc Ambinder in the December Atlantic.

And she finds it curious that Yochi Dreazen, at the related National Journal, then questions Bachmann's facts/sources.

http://www.emptywheel.net/2011/11/23/michelle-bachmanns-nuclear-theft/#more-23214

[turcopolier]

smoke

Prior publication of the material has no legal effect. pl

[Charles I]

Its too funny, one commentator on the emptywheel article moots MB was put in receipt of classified intelligence was to thereby shut her up, foreclose comment options.

Oops

[Roy G.]

Col, I hope your brain isn't too sore from being subjected to this pander-fest. This field of power-hungry dimbulbs show just how far our Republic has fallen. Having Bachmann on the Intelligence Committee is a sick joke. I cannot fathom how she can get away with this, except that the past 10 years have taught us that certain people in this country are above the law, and can get away with anything, even if it objectively damages national security interests.

Real intelligence is anathema to Bachmann and her fellow GOP travelers - everything is grist for propaganda, and a means to power. This is what advanced political rot looks like.

[J]

Ms. Bachmann suffers from the dumb blonde syndrome, no offense intended to real deal blondes out there. It's just that Ms. Bachmann seems to want to play the dumb blonde both in her actions and answers, that she conveniently falls into the dumb blonde syndrome. I have found that real blondes don't do the dumb blonde syndrome, it the wanna-be blondes like Ms. Bachmann that seem to be the air-heads.

[mbrenner]

The pussle of Michelle Bachman's presence on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence can be solved if we concentrate on the original usage of the word 'intelligence.' Since 'intelligence' as secret information is always sensitive, and carries the risk of compromising national interests, it is obligatory that the selectors only select those whose intellectual capacities ensure that there will be no damaging slips. There is a double logic at work here. First, a PSCI memeber whose is IQ and memory challenged is less likely to comprehend what is confided to her. Hence, any leaks will be of garbled material. Second, if those leaks are registered by our enemies, they will be set down the wrong path. Of course, the latter effect could be achieved by intentionally rcruiting witting Congress people. But even that may get out eventually. Moreover, if you want to convince the enemy of the authenticity of the misinformation, you need people who will speak the untruth (however ridiculous) with such conviction that its veracity will never be doubted. A dimwit certain of everything she utters, therefore, is the ideal choice for a spot on the committee. Not that similarly candidates are hard to find in the halls of Congress these days.

[ex-PFC Chuck]

As a resident of Minnesota (but thankfully not the Sixth District) I should wonder how the House GOP caucus could have such colossally bad judgment as to appoint Bachmann to that committee. But I'm not surprised.

[MChampney]

Pussle or Pustule? Slattern or weeping lesion? Either (or both!) works for me…

Mark

[Marina]

I see no reason to trash Bachmann for quoting information in the public domain. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/11/michele-bachmann-is-right/249039/

[turcopolier]

Marina

Really? What she has done is transform rumor (press) into reality. pl

[Russ Wagenfeld]

Hi Pat,
You wrote "What she has done is transform rumor (press) into reality." Fortunately, I didn't watch the debate. It would be classified as cruel and unusual punishment akin to water boarding. However, I have heard some longish quotes from her pronouncements on this topic in the debate. Also, I have read the Atlantic article. And they are similar. Officials in Pakistan and others abroad will assume she got the information from US intelligence briefings because she is on the Select Committee on Intelligence. US observers will doubt she would (ever) devoted the time and effort to read and retain a long and serious article in such a magazine. Bad all around.
Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving. Regards.
Russ

[Adam L Silverman]

ex-PFC Chuck,

If I'm remembering correctly it was sort of a reward for not making a tremendous scene after the Republicans retook the House. Congresswoman Bachmann had (sort of) made a play to be in the House Republican's new majority leadership on the argument that she was the most senior Republican in the House connected to the tea party, that she started the tea party caucus, etc. Even the Republican leadership couldn't stomach this and threw her the intel committee appointment as a sop. Why her bid was a problem in light of their inclusion in the leadership of such intellectual giants as Eric Cantor and Mike Pence, I don't really get. Though if I had to speculate, I'd say they figured she was more uncontrollable in her pursuit of power than Cantor and actually dumber than Pence - altogether an unattractive political combination.

[kao_hsien_chih]

That little episode has painted JFK as a sleazeball to me all my life. I suppose it was a clever political trick it's probably not exactly fair to begrudge him for so long, but that has always struck me as a serious breach of public trust. If Bachman is indeed using classified info as a political club, she'd be a scumbag unworthy of any public trust also.