Yesterday it was the leak from the White House that Trump ignored what the security people told him and high-fived Putin for the stolen election and refrained from asking him about that pesky nerve agent thing in Salisbury. Today it’s the outrage over the leak.

The leak was rather striking. CNN says Trump was still at home in his jammies (i.e. “in the residence” having “executive time”) when he made the call.

Trump was fuming Tuesday night, asking his allies and outside advisers who they thought had leaked the information, noting that only a small group of staffers have access to those materials and would have known what guidance was included for the Putin call, the source said.

So it’s probably someone who doesn’t mind being fired, as well as someone who thinks the phone call was bad enough to take the risk.

“If this story is accurate, that means someone leaked the President’s briefing papers. Leaking such information is a fireable offense and likely illegal,” another senior White House official told CNN Wednesday.

Yes but what about when the president is so corrupt and so lunatic that he appears to be handing us over bound and gagged to Putin’s Russia? Who’s committing the real crimes here?

The President often makes calls to foreign leaders while he is still in the residence during what has been dubbed “executive time.” National security adviser H.R. McMaster has been known to join Trump in the residence during these calls, and was present during his Tuesday morning call with Putin. According to the public schedule released by the White House Tuesday, the President was not scheduled to be in the West Wing until noon, when he greeted the Saudi crown prince.

So, CNN delicately hints, maybe it was McMaster.

It is still unclear if Trump actually read the guidance that was given to him by his advisers. Multiple officials have noted that he often follows his own path during his calls with world leaders. The substance of the call was not seen as a major deal by national security staffers, but the leak certainly was.

Another White House official didn’t dispute to CNN Tuesday the language on the notes provided by members of Trump’s National Security Council, but said Trump didn’t read or see the notecard. The official added that Trump often disregards advice in calls with foreign leaders.

Yeeeeaah, that doesn’t make it any better. Trump shouldn’t disregard advice, because Trump has no clue. He’s no more qualified to be talking to foreign leaders than his fashion-marketer daughter is. He’s unqualified and he appears to be corrupt or compromised or both.

Back to Aaron Blake at the Post:

Leaks are something of a self-perpetuating, vicious cycle within the Trump White House. The more Trump does highly questionable things against his advisers’ advice, the more it seems to leak out, the more Trump believes the deep state has penetrated his White House, and the more he disregards his advisers.

But there is an alternate explanation: What if the leakers are trying to help rather than embarrass Trump?

Sure, this could be about retribution against a president who refuses to listen to the Very Smart Experts around him. Those advisers are liable to take that personally and grow frustrated at being so casually and regularly disregarded. Imagine having that situation with your boss.

When your boss is a random unqualified but opinionated and also corrupt numpty. Imagine it then.

These leakers’ efforts might have been in vain, but it’s possible that they were legitimately trying to shift the course of Trump’s actions. Ignoring or disregarding key talking points while on a call with an antagonistic foreign leader such as Putin must be cause for concern. We forget how bonkers that is because everything about this presidency has been so bonkers and unprecedented.

Hey, I don’t. I think it’s as bonkers as it gets.