I never thought I'd see the day when a serious concern for national security would be allayed in my mind by the fact that the President* of the United States never has made a promise he couldn't break.

Yes, it has well and truly hit the fan. From, as you undoubtedly know by now, the Washington Post:

Trump’s interaction with the foreign leader included a “promise” that was regarded as so troubling that it prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community, said the former officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. It was not immediately clear which foreign leader Trump was speaking with or what he pledged to deliver, but his direct involvement in the matter has not been previously disclosed. It raises new questions about the president’s handling of sensitive information and may further strain his relationship with U.S. spy agencies. One former official said the communication was a phone call.

Sooner or later, we'll find out to whom El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago made one of his customarily worthless promises. If we're all very lucky, it will be to some bush-league satrap like the ruler of Qatar. If we're not lucky, it will be to somebody who won't take the president*'s usual modus operandi as helplessly as various New Jersey glaziers once had to, and the president* will be forced to start eating his KFC with a geiger counter. What we do know is that the communication involving the promise was sufficiently alarming that some conscientious spook blew the whistle on it. What we also know is that our acting Director of National Intelligence has fought like a rabid badger to keep that information a way from the responsible congressional committees.

Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson determined that the complaint was credible and troubling enough to be considered a matter of “urgent concern,” a legal threshold that requires notification of congressional oversight committees.But acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire has refused to share details about Trump’s alleged transgression with lawmakers, touching off a legal and political dispute that has spilled into public view and prompted speculation that the spy chief is improperly protecting the president.

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff arrives at the Capitol before the committee meeting with Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire on Thursday in Washington, DC. Acting Director Maguire is set to meet with members of the House Intelligence Committee over the whistleblower complaint against Trump. Samuel Corum Getty Images

The Post has followed up with an interesting timeline. The entry for August 8 is particularly piquant.

Aug. 8: After Trump’s pick of Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Tex.) to replace Coats falls through, Trump announces Joseph Maguire would take on the role in an acting capacity. In doing so, he bypassed Sue Gordon, who had been Coats’s No. 2 at DNI and was a career intelligence official with bipartisan support. Gordon would also resign.

Four days later, the spook blows the whistle.

One hesitates to say enough is enough but, this time, seriously, enough is truly enough. The president*, who knows nothing about anything and whose word is worthless, is promising god alone knows what to god alone knows who, but whatever it happened to be was scary enough to spook the spooks, and damaging enough to risk corrupting the usual oversight process. How much of this perilous nonsense are we willing to tolerate? When corruption and incompetence collide, there's a lot that hits the fan.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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