If you’re not up to date on the Russian Bounty on U.S. Troops story, Mark Sumner has a quick recap: www.dailykos.com/...
Donald Trump has been attacking, hindering and discrediting our Intel Community since almost the beginning of his presidency. I imagine I’m not the only one who wondered what the consequences of this might be for him.
As my Grandpa used to say, “you only get to poke a bear once or twice, before she takes your head right off.” Well, our Intel Community has taken scores of pokes, and remained mostly quiet.
So, at the risk of speculating, I’d say the “bear” of consequences just hit Donald squarely in the face, last Friday. That’s the day the NYTimes first published their explosive story about Russian Bounties on American troops. They have since expanded and confirmed their original story, here, and here. Other news agencies (CNN, WSJ, WaPo & SkyNEWS) have independently confirmed the original NYTimes story.
This appears to have had the effect of sending the president into hiding.
First at his golf club, for Saturday and Sunday. And now, well, nobody’s quite sure where. Here is his “schedule” for today, such as it is:
Since it’s now been learned that Trump was made aware of this situation as far back as March 2019, one wonders why it took this long for Intel to come to its senses and act. I mean, if it were simply an act of patriotism, of protection of our country, of DOING THEIR JOBS, then they could very well have leaked this story in March of 2019.
So…………………...why now?
Again, speculating, I’d say that it was timed for maximum impact.
And that it won’t be the last swipe from this quite formidable “bear.”
Each story that has come out about Russian bounties on American troops has referenced at least THREE sources on the matter. So, there is literally NO wiggle room for Trump to cry “Fake News” effectively. It also points to the possibility that this may be a coordinated effort (or at least a corroborated one) by US Intel. What would be the odds that three (or more) intel officers came out to the NYTimes at the very same time, on the very same issue, by chance?
So, IF this is a coordinated attack on the president, and it’s just the first of others to come, where might this ultimately be going?
How bad could they make it for Donny?
As long as each news agency adheres to its journalistic ethics, and keeps these sources secret, might even MORE intel operators be enticed to tell what they know?
Something like this, coupled with Bolton’s book, could start an avalanche of damaging information on Trump.
Bolton was limited by the White House’s classification scheme. He went public-public.
These leakers are not.
They’ve watched as Trump has derided, insulted and fired their colleagues.
And still, they’re now talking. They’re putting their CAREERS on the line for their country.
It is obvious to everyone, save those blinded by Trump’s cultish powers, that he is a very grave danger to the health and well-being of our nation. Assuming enough intel members take their oaths seriously, I’d venture that this summer will offer at least one major scandal against Trump each month.
And if it’s coordinated, they just might get worse and worse as the heat of summer swells.
Still not persuaded?
Here is an article from justsecurity.org about the instances and ways that Trump has continually f*ucked over our intel community, and our nation:
by Joshua Geltzer and Ryan Goodman
September 3, 2019
Amid President Donald Trump’s recurring rounds of insults to the U.S. intelligence community, there’s been justifiable concern about the damage inflicted on the internal morale and public stature of the intelligence professionals who keep us all safe. The latest insult—Trump’s tweeting of an apparently sensitive image of an Iranian facility—adds to this set of concerns. Trump’s approach to his own intelligence and diplomatic services, combined with his approach to direct engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, is costing the United States real insight into hostile foreign actors’ intentions while paving the way for domestic disinformation in years to come.
[...]
Let’s look more closely at the overall pattern that’s emerged.
Tendency 1: Blinding the intelligence community
In several ways, Trump has blinded intelligence professionals in different areas of their work. Consider his attempt to declassify large swaths of the Russia counterintelligence investigation—for political gain—and his willingness to expose intelligence products in an impulsive moment, such as boasting to the Russians in the Oval Office about sensitive counterterrorism collection capabilities and, most recently, tweeting an overhead image of Iran’s launch site. These actions will undercut our spies’ ability to recruit foreign sources and to convince foreign intelligence agencies to share vital secrets with us. Those foreign sources and agencies must have trust in our intelligence community, and that trust is based in large part on our government’s ability to safeguard the most sensitive information obtained by it. Some of America’s closest allies reportedly have become unwilling to share as much with us in light of Trump’s actions.
[...]
Tendency 2. Discrediting the intelligence community
Trump isn’t just blinding us from potential insights that include understanding a key adversary on the world stage. He’s also taking a page from Putin’s playbook by laying the groundwork for a disinformation campaign—by impugning the very notion that our intelligence services can yield judgments that the American people should trust.
Consider Trump’s bizarre back-and-forth earlier this year in response to his own intelligence chiefs’ assessments of major threats to the United States in highly important congressional testimony. First, Trump personally insulted the chiefs, tweeting that they were “wrong!” and “should go back to school!” Then, the President invited them to the Oval Office; praised them for being “all on the same page” with Trump himself on issues like Iran, ISIS, and North Korea; and lambasted the media for purportedly misrepresenting their testimony. Next, Trump minimized the notion that he’d been the one to allege that the intelligence chiefs had been misrepresented in the media, claimed that they were the ones who’d said so, and disclaimed any view of his own as to whether they had or hadn’t been mischaracterized, instead saying “maybe they were, maybe they weren’t. I don’t really know.”
[...]
Tendency 3: Overriding the intelligence community
And now we come to the latest insult: Trump’s tweet disclosing a seemingly sensitive image whose public issuance, experts rightly worry, could tip off Iran and other foreign actors to the nature of American intelligence collection capabilities. This bizarre action appears to have taken place in an unplanned and uncoordinated manner. That isn’t just an affront to the intelligence community that Trump has long denigrated. It’s also an indication of how he views their work: something for him to use as and when he pleases, rather than fundamentally the nation’s. Even Trump’s defense of himself—an assertion that he had an “absolute right” to tweet as he so desired—was all about himself, rather than about the intelligence community whose work he’d cavalierly jeopardized or the nation such work is undertaken to protect.
[...]
* * *
A president who costs us insight into our rivals and demeans our own government servants is a genuine national security threat. President Trump is proving better at spreading disinformation than protecting real information.
Meanwhile, America’s intelligence community professionals continue their efforts to thwart disinformation and safeguard national security information. They’re not, right now, getting the support they deserve from the Oval Office, but that’s all the more reason to ensure they know that they have the rest of our respect, admiration, and gratitude.
This is all the more important, BECAUSE it is election time, and Trump is likely to continue his attack on intel, to benefit himself in this election. If Trump remains in power, it will get exponentially worse.
Remember what happened in 2018:
On Thursday, the heads of the national security agencies said that Russia was still trying to influence and disrupt the midterm elections in the United States. Their pointed statements contradicted President Trump, who has continued to cast doubt on the role Russia played in the 2016 presidential election.
American intelligence agencies and both parties on Capitol Hill are in consensus that, as Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, said, “Russia conducted an unprecedented influence campaign to interfere in the U.S. electoral and political process.”
The federal and congressional intelligence and national security groups that have stated that Russia interfered in the election:
1. Central Intelligence Agency
2. Office of the Director of National Intelligence
4. National Security Agency
6. Department of Homeland Security
7. House Intelligence Committee
8. Senate Intelligence Committee
In a January 2017 assessment, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the F.B.I. and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluded that Russia interfered in the election. Officials across the intelligence community have affirmed the findings in the report, while Mr. Trump has questioned them.
Wednesday, Jul 1, 2020 · 5:37:07 PM +00:00 · AlyoshaKaramazov
From commenter kurious:
Former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul on MSNBC this am. (Unofficially transcribed by me. Emphasis mine):
Stephanie Rhule: You know Russia very, very well--What are your sources and your experience telling you about this (the Russian bounties on US troops)?
McFaul: ...(Putin, since) he annexed Crimea, has been escalating his confrontation with the United States and the West more generally. He considers us the enemy…
...Tragically, Trump’s response also fits a pattern. He hasn’t been very consistent on most foreign policy issues, but with respect to Putin, he has, which is: He never criticizes Vladimir Putin personally. He always says he wants to be his ‘friend’ and when confronted with our Intelligence—remember, 2016-we have incredible Intelligence documenting Russia’s interference in our elections—president Trump consistently denies that Intelligence and says “I’m still sticking with Putin”…
...Remember: This (leaking of this info) is illegal. It is a crime to leak this kind of Intelligence. That suggests to me that there are many people in the Intelligence Community that are so outraged that this Intelligence is being ignored that they went to this extraordinary measure— so, let’s have hearings on it...
Thursday, Jul 2, 2020 · 12:26:57 PM +00:00 · AlyoshaKaramazov
There are some in this diary who appear to be claiming that news agencies made cold-calls to intel members, to get info on the Russian Bounty story. In other words, claiming that there was no coordination or even corroboration done by the intel people themselves, but only by the news agencies. This doesn’t pass the smell test.
My best (uninformed) guess is that one person came to the NYTimes with this info. Then that person gave a few names for corroboration. But for that to happen, that persons MUST have gotten the OK form the corroborators. Otherwise, someone may have tattled, and ruined the entire thing.