In his new book, The Apprentice, Washington Post reporter Greg Miller made news with new details about a pivotal moment in the 2016 presidential when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected the CIA’s finding that Russia was seeking to influence the outco
In an online interview with readers, Miller revealed more about the how the CIA is responding to Trump. Asked if the agency is helping Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, Miller said:
“Oh yes, the CIA and other agencies have from the beginning been providing information to the Mueller team, and in fact have been tasked with trying to get answers to key questions. I can’t wait to see whether they succeeded.”
The CIA’s daily briefers avoid Trump’s ire by not bringing subjects he doesn’t want to hear about, Miller reports.
“Former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and his aides were often frustrated, believed that CIA briefers weren’t talking to Trump about the most troubling intel on Russia. They would put it the President’s Daily Brief, but knew he didn’t read it and didn’t want to bring it up. That forced McMaster to be the bearer of bad news. It’s just an indication of the dysfunction caused by the president’s refusal to accept the U.S. intelligence community’s judgment about Russia.:
Asked about morale at the CIA, Miller declined to generalize about an organization that has 20,000 employees. “But by all indications,” he went on, “CIA officials are deeply troubled by much of what they have seen over the past two years — Trump has accused them of conspiracy, raised the comparison to Nazis, repeatedly and publicly denounced their work (particularly on Russia) and largely ignored their analysis (doesn’t read the PDB). This, obviously, isn’t ideal from the CIA standpoint.”
“Trump’s retaliation against Brennan, stripping him of his clearances (hasn’t happened yet far as we know) only deepens that concern and resentment. … It’s hard to know how this turns out.”
The agency’s Russia analysts feel like outcasts, Miller says.
“Russia House, the CIA entity responsible for espionage against Russia, has been significantly impaired/prevented from doing its job. There is, however, abundant evidence that its work and analysis is ignored and often rejected by the president. Most notably in Helsinki, where Trump all but sided with the Russian president over his own government.”
Russian intelligence officer have unprecedented access to Washington, one reader noted. Last January, the heads of Russia’s GRU (military intelligence), SVR (foreign intelligence) and FSB (domestic intelligence) all came to Washington to meet with Mike Pompeo. That had never happened before.
Miller allowed the “optics” were bad but said he doubted the conversations were “nefarious.”
Miller thinks it likely that the Russians have kompromat (compromising material) on Trump, like the cavorting with prostitutes alleged in the famous Steele dossier. But Miller doubts whether such material would give Russia any leverage.
“These allegations remain unproven. and I think it’s fair to question whether such photos would give the Kremlin sway over someone who has already survived scandals along these lines.”
