Quote Originally Posted by TheCurmudgeon View Post
Azor,

Do you know how the first openly gay linguist at the NSA was able to keep his security clearance?

"officials believed that a talented NSA linguist might be gay and stripped him of his security clearance, according to James Bamford, author of "The Puzzle Palace," a history of the code-breaking agency. But the linguist, represented by gay rights attorney Franklin E. Kameny, fought back. NSA Director Bobby Ray Inman agreed to a deal: The linguist could keep his job if he signed a document stating that he was gay, and if members of his family signed it, too, eliminating any possibility of blackmail."

Once information is open to the public, there is no longer a threat of blackmail. As long as personal information is withheld from the public ... well, you get the idea.
I actually am aware of that story, although I had forgotten the name of the person and the agency.

But I don't see the relevance here.

With respect to Trump and Russia, the compromising materials are already in the public forum, right? Much of the damage is done as millions of Americans now believe that Trump is not only a Russian agent but sexually perverted as well. In many respects this is a rather ironic reversal of the "birther" movement, albeit one that cannot be so easily dispelled.

The burden of proof is on Trump, despite the fact that his die-hard followers will dismiss the allegations. How does one disprove something that doesn't exist and is supposedly in the hands of a rival that denies it?