Trump seems not to mind disclosures that help him push a narrative; he just hates ones that work against his preferred narratives. The president's inconsistency suggests that his opposition to leaks is more about politics than principle and that what he really wants to end is the flow of unflattering information.

On the eve of Election Day, the conservative news site Heat Street reported that the FBI had obtained a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, “giving counter-intelligence permission to examine the activities of 'U.S. persons' in Donald Trump's campaign with ties to Russia.”

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There are reasons to doubt the accuracy of this report. Only one other news outlet, the BBC, has independently reported that a FISA warrant was granted. And the BBC (also relying on leaked information) contradicted Heat Street's report that the warrant applied to American citizens working on Trump's campaign, writing that “neither Mr. Trump nor his associates are named in the FISA order, which would only cover foreign citizens or foreign entities.”

Plus, the Heat Street report is based on “two separate sources with links to the counter-intelligence community.” That's a vague description (what qualifies as a link?) that fails to establish the sources' authority.

Speaking generally about news reports based on unnamed sources at Monday's congressional hearing, Comey said “there's a whole lot out there that is false. And I suppose some of it could be people lying to reporters. I think that probably happens. But more often than not, it's people who — who act like they know when they really don't know. Because they're not the people who actually know the secrets; they're one or two hops out, and they're passing along things they think they know.”

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If, however, we take a leap and assume that the Heat Street report is accurate, then it represents one heck of a leak of classified information. Yet Trump, who says such leaks are “the real story,” did not protest this one. In fact, when The Washington Post Fact Checker asked the White House this month for evidence to support Trump's wiretapping charge against Obama, the president's team pointed to the Heat Street report.

Somewhat oddly, the White House also referred to the BBC report, which, as noted, challenges Heat Street's assertion that the FBI obtained a FISA warrant to surveil Trump aides. (It is worth noting, too, that the author of the Heat Street report, Louise Mensch, made a point of saying on Twitter that she never reported a wiretap of Trump Tower.)