Betsy Newmark teaches some history to ABC News:
Ben Franklin leaked private letters from Thomas Hutchinson, the Royal Governor of Massachusetts urging royal authorities to suspend the liberties of the colonists and send more troops to the colonies. Franklin leaked the letters to Sons of Liberty in Boston who published the letters thus enraging Bostonians. Leaders in Parliament were so infuriated that they brought Franklin before the the House of Commons and excoriated him. He then lost his job as Postmaster and returned to the colonies to play a role in the Continental Congress.Okay, do you see any similarity with a high-level CIA agent, sworn to secrecy, leaking top secret information while we're at war? Come on. Franklin was an adversary with the British at this point. Now, the real comparison would be to whoever in the British government who leaked the letters to Franklin. But that information is lost to us now. There is no parallel between Franklin and McCarthy.
She debunks the Paul Revere comparison as well. Both of these turned up in press coverage the other day. Watch for more.
H/t Lorie.