Peak hypocrisy.

I know. There's no upper limit but just work with me here, ok?

[According to the latest report from the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center, "[c]ritical infrastructure” and “key supply chains” are to be protected at all costs, while “democratic institutions and processes” are to be defended against “foreign influence” in order to “preserve our culture of openness.”

However, the section on “defending American democracy against foreign influence” recommends the US “deepen existing and develop new foreign partnerships,” apparently confident that allies who’ve been caught meddling extensively in other countries’ elections won’t turn their skills against Uncle Sam. Perhaps more importantly, a spy agency calling to “preserve our culture of openness,” while denouncing “public disclosure organizations” as a threat to the American Way of Life on par with ISIS is further evidence Washington doesn’t need foreign help sowing distrust in its institutions.^[1]

Of course, there are legitimate government secrets that must be kept. Sources and methods of the intelligence agencies are a no brainer.

However, that category of secrets termed "legitimate" is a lot more circumscribed than the princelings and barons would have us believe. "Legitimate" is suspiciously coterminous with "embarrassing," like as not.

After more than half a century of trust of and respect for my government I'm now firmly committed to the proposition that the upper reaches of all three branches of the federal government are staffed by ladies and ginamans who would be more useful to our multicultural hotbed of excellence were they to equip themselves with a plumber's snake and go to work in that line of endeavor.

At least they'd be used to the smell.

Notes
^[1] "Terrorists, Iran and…WikiLeaks? US counter-intel agency puts ‘public disclosure groups’ on same threat list as Al-Qaeda & ISIS." By RT, 2/11/20 (emphasis added).