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Remember back during the 2016 campaign Donald Trump gushed over Wikileaks time and time again. One hundred and sixty four times, just in October, according to thinkprogress:
“Boy, that Wikileaks has done a job on her, hasn’t it?”
— DJ Trump
SOOOO … It should send up more than a few warning flares, NOW that the Trump Administration is quietly, but systematic, trying to paint Wikileaks as the Villains in the Trump-Russia story-line.
First there’s this, from the Rex T himself, when he painted ‘a pathway’ for the Kremlin, to find its way home, to the ‘sanctions-free zone’ … (as opined in the washingtonpost):
Before departing for a closely watched trip to Russia this week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on the Kremlin to "confront" its meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. In a segment on ABC's "This Week," Tillerson warned Russia that its continued meddling here and elsewhere "undermines any hope of (Russia) improving relations" with the United States and European democracies.
Then there’s this strange “pulling up stakes” on the Wikileaks “band wagon tent” — that once was a fundamental bed-rock of the Trump “lock her up” crowd (ie “Trump’s base”). Trump’s CIA Director has suddenly declared Wikileaks ‘enemy of the state’ … (as astutely noticed by mediaite.com):
Pompeo called out Wikileaks and Julian Assange, saying they’re a “non-state, hostile intelligence service” being abetted “by state actors like Russia.”
This circling of the wagons around the ‘real enemies’ — has not gone unnoticed by the Trumpite who has hitched his PR-trailer to the merits of the Wikileaks freedom agenda.
Roger Stone said on Friday that CIA Director Mike Pompeo should resign after he delivered a speech this week rebuking WikiLeaks.
[...] Stone said there is no convincing evidence to support this assertion. "The bureaucrats and career CIA are spinning a B.S. narrative," he said.
"Mr. Pompeo is so dumb that he is buying," added Stone before calling for Pompeo's departure. "This really raises questions about his qualifications and his ability to do the job."
— washingtonexaminer.com
“So dumb” like a fox.
I wonder what it feels like to have been a once-rising-star on the Trump Satellite circuit, only see the rhetorical rug you were standing on, get yanked out from under you ...
I wonder what it feels like to be Roger Stone … as you realize: you have become the “designated fall guy” before the “Blame Wikileaks Bus.”
…
The only solace that Stone might find is that he can probably share a cell with Page and Manafort — if only the Trump brain trust can successfully shed itself of all things Wiki. Conveniently for them, U.S. Intel sources have already branded Wikileaks like this: “Russian military intelligence was behind the anonymous hackers Guccifer 2.0 and DCLeaks.com”.
NOW … If only they can also get the U.S. Electorate to conveniently let them “re-write the chapter” on Wikileaks biggest fan:
“I love WikiLeaks,” he told listeners during a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., prompting prolonged “Lock her up!” chants from his audience. “It’s amazing how nothing is secret today when you talk about the Internet.”
— The Hill