Scandal after scandal

In what has been a week of shocking scandal after shocking scandal since the sacking of FBI director James Comey, we are now given to understand that the president of the US blurted out classified information on the Islamic State, also known as ISIS – obtained by sensitive means – as though engaging in locker- room banter with the Russians.

Israel was reported to be the source of the intelligence, which cannot be fully reported on given its sensitive nature but which in general terms appears to have related to a plan to attack using laptop computers.

“I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day,” Trump is reported to have boasted to Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the US, before divulging his knowledge of an IS plot.

According to The New York Times, “After his Russian guests left the Oval Office, White House officials struggled to limit the damage by contacting the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency and trying to scrub transcripts from the meeting.” This is not to be excused as a strategic act of grand-charging. It is proof of a president who cannot be trusted with secrets. His administration is a direct threat to the national security interests of his own country and the interest of America’s allies all over the world. Which country can now confidently share sensitive intelligence with the US with the knowledge that it will be treated with the utmost discretion? What Trump blurted out in a second may have taken agents and officials years to obtain after careful cultivation and infiltration.

Republicans may not see just how damaging this all is (they used tame euphemisms to describe Trump’s latest and worst breach: “deeply disturbing;” “troubling;” and “very serious”) but they will soon have to wake up and smell the coffee. The US president’s actions immediately have a chill effect on all cross-border collaborations with his country.

Fearful of sources being burned, nations may be reluctant to feed the US what information it may need.

And what of the countries all over the world that might hope to benefit from the global sharing of intelligence obtained by perilous means? Many countries likely benefit in this way, perhaps on a daily basis, through US support.

Every single day since Trump assumed office has been fraught with all kinds of outrageous or irregular behaviour, ranging from his uncouth immigration orders to his dismissal of FBI director Comey without due process. The issue now facing the American people is whether Trump can be accused of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours.” If he can, then he may face impeachment proceedings. Up until now, Republicans (who control both chambers of the US legislature) have said the Rubicon has not been crossed.

Yet, with even more explosive allegations continuing to emerge, they may not be able to bury their heads in the sand for much longer. Trump now stands accused of attempting to obstruct justice, reportedly issuing this remark to Comey at a private meeting: “I hope you can let this go.” The president was referring to the FBI probe into Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, who resigned amid public reports that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with a Russian diplomat.

It is in nobody’s interest to see Trump fall. Should he be impeached, he would be replaced by Pence, an anti-LGBT, anti-abortion, climate-change-denying creationist.

But it is also in nobody’s interest to see a president who constitutes a threat to global security remain in office. Much will depend on the will of the American people, as the midterm elections come closer and as the developments unfold.