After the popular vote loser Trump was elected by the Electoral College, his son-in-law Jared Kushner announced that he was stepping back from several positions so he could assist the 70-year old baby in the White House. One of those positions was publisher of the Observer. Brother-in-law, Joseph Meyer, took over as publisher.
The Observer a New York-centric publication that since Kushner’s takeover has gone through turmoil and a loss of identity, saddled by Kushner-directed sophomoric right-wing editorials. Yet, a few decent journalists/writers survived.
Trump must be really ticked off that Kushner didn’t maintain a conflict of interest. The publication is currently running a lengthy article by John Schindler entitled:
The Spy Revolt Against Trump Begins
It’s worth a read — observer.com/…
The bottom line is that the Intelligence Community does not trust Trump. Neither do they trust Trump-appointed NSC head Michael Flynn, who many view as arrogant, conceited, and compromised. The level of distrust is so signficant that the IC is withholding information from Trump.
After explaining how Trump has weakened international security and counterterrorism relations with traditional allies, Schindler explains:
Now those concerns are causing problems much closer to home—in fact, inside the Beltway itself. Our Intelligence Community is so worried by the unprecedented problems of the Trump administration—not only do senior officials possess troubling ties to the Kremlin, there are nagging questions about basic competence regarding Team Trump—that it is beginning to withhold intelligence from a White House which our spies do not trust.
The article discusses Flynn’s cozy relationship with Russia, including Russian ambassador, Sergei Kislyak.
It’s debatable whether Flynn broke any laws by conducting unofficial diplomacy with Moscow, then lying about it, and he has now adopted the customary Beltway dodge about the affair, ditching his previous denials in favor of professing he has “no recollection of discussing sanctions,” adding that he “couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.” That’s not good enough anymore, since the IC knows exactly what Flynn and Kislyak discussed.
...
Our spies have had enough of these shady Russian connections—and they are starting to push back.
Schindler, a former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence officer closes:
I previously warned the Trump administration not to go to war with the nation’s spies, and here’s why. This is a risky situation, particularly since President Trump is prone to creating crises foreign and domestic with his incautious tweets. In the event of a serious international crisis of the sort which eventually befalls almost every administration, the White House will need the best intelligence possible to prevent war, possibly even nuclear war. It may not get the information it needs in that hour of crisis, and for that it has nobody to blame but itself.
If you have time, please read the whole article.
All this has happened in three weeks.
Three weeks
Resist!
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Edit: Thanks for the recommendations. Much appreciated!
Edit 2: Boadicea points out below Kushner may still have an ownership interest in the Observer. I was having a hard time figuring out if he had sold yet. He had stepped down as publisher.
Edit 3: Please also read dpinzow‘s comment below, in which dpinzow partly quotes and links to a NY Times article on White House dysfunction and in relation to the intelligence community: www.dailykos.com/…