First of all, letting “Trump be Trump” is going to continue to offer up the kind of crap-storms and endless headaches that the professionals in the room are growing tired of.

Was Trump wrong to congratulate Russian strongman, Vladimir Putin on his [fraudulent] election win?

Yes. He was.

And to the Church of Whataboutism, no, it doesn’t matter what Obama did. If you didn’t like it when Obama did it, you can’t suddenly love it when Trump does it, so stop talking about it. It ramps up your noxious hypocrisy to 11.

The background is, in a call to Putin, fresh off of securing another term as president – through ballot-stuffing and shutting down opponents – President Trump ignored the guidance of his national security advisers, even looking over clearly written instructions: “DO NOT CONGRATULATE,” to do just that.

Why? Because ingratiating himself to Putin has always been more important than following protocol or maintaining our nation’s integrity.

He also ignored an advised request that he condemn the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in in England. Several nations have concluded this was the work of Russia, and Trump, himself, even said that it appeared likely to be the work of Russia. He was, however, unwilling to confront Putin with this, directly.

With that being said, who leaked this information to the press, and why?

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly would like to know. Reports are, he’s furious. I can see why, as he was brought in to keep a lid on these things, and for most part, he’s done a pretty good job.

While an internal investigation is underway, in an attempt to find who, of the small group with knowledge of the call between the two world leaders, may have leaked to the press, and why, an official spoke up:

“This is unacceptable,” the official told CNN, adding that some believe the leak was made as an attempt to embarrass the president.

And that may be it, as we’ve heard in the past that many in the administration feel bad press is the only way to get the president to listen.

And no, the official did not deny that the call went exactly as reported, only that it shouldn’t have been leaked.

You have to wonder if Kelly is as upset as he is because of recent reports that he may be one in a line of Cabinet members on thin ice. It’s possible that after his misstep with former White House press secretary Rob Porter, he doesn’t want any more embarrassing black marks on his record.