I would hope COTTonLINE readers wonder how the name of FBI informant Stefan Halper was leaked, when the DOJ and FBI have so assiduously been protecting it. Let me float a conspiracy theory, original with me, and based on no insider knowledge whatsoever.
Halper, 73, is an ex-pat American who lives and works in the U.K. He's the ex-son-inlaw of a CIA Deputy Director, check out his Wikipedia bio. I view him and the people he contacted as low-level, presumably they told him little because they knew little.
Honestly, Halper-as-mole looks like a red herring. He's somebody already revealed as an intelligence asset who has no further value as an informant. I strongly suspect he was "outed" to provide cover for the real mole, who was literally inside the Trump campaign.
It is reported Halper contacted 2-3 low-level Trumkins. If he did so at the behest of the FBI, he shouldn't have been so tasked. It appears the Trump people told him exactly nothing of interest.
If the Trump campaign is aware of leaks of their inside communications which ended up in outsiders' hands, Halper likely was not the source. He has been "sacrificed" to provide cover for the real mole, who may today still work in the White House or elsewhere in the Executive Branch.
A mole, if he exists, likely was a genuine Trump supporter and campaign worker upon whom the FBI found enough dirt to indict him (or her). They instead used it as blackmail to "turn" the person into a CI.
While I feel for people caught in such situations, they really have no one to blame but themselves. Those with "iffy" pasts should stay in low exposure occupations where it's unlikely anyone will be motivated to check their backgrounds.
It's odd how many people can't bring themselves to accept this unfortunate fact of life. It's a very rare individual who, like Donald Trump, can violate this rule with impunity; many try and fail.
