Makes sense, but what is the harm? Or potential harm?
Exposing US collections means, methods, and capabilities harms our ability to determine the intentions, capabilities, and activities of our opponents.
Making up an example: let's say we developed the ability to geolocate (say) any satellite phone in the world. And then let's say, a politician went on television and bragged that we were close to finding a terrorist leader, because we were tracking his sat phone.
Well, not only is that particular leader going to ditch his sat phone,
so is everyone else. Suddenly, we are losing track of terrorists, Russian spies, and narco leadership around the globe, meaning our ability to stop them is hindered, and their ability to do us harm is increased.
Sometimes, loss of a capability just means the loss of taxpayer money and time. Other times, it translates into lost lives.
That doesn't mean it's not worth it to expose them on occasion - we go to war, after all, knowing we are asking at least some 19 year olds to die for us, because we judge the goal to be worth their lives. But it
does mean that the decision to do so should be measured, deliberate, and informed; not because someone found it entertaining to do so.
