“I will tell you, more and more, we’re hearing the story [that the new coronavirus emerged from a Wuhan lab,” President Trump said last April. On April 30, Trump said he had a “high degree of confidence” the new coronavirus originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China. Trump said he was “not allowed” to revealed his sources,...
Category: ODNI
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When It Comes to Intelligence Briefings, Trump Prefers to Pass
Trump went from a high of 4.1 briefings per week on average in March 2017 to 0.7 per week since July 1, shortly after it became public that he had ignored intelligence reports about Russia offering bounties to the Taliban for each American soldier killed in Afghanistan. Monday’s briefing, in fact, was the first in...
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Pelosi Upbraids Counterintelligence Chief Over Russian Meddling
While it is highly debatable whether Russian social media activities could swing the 2020 election, there’s not much doubt that the Russian state agent, including Yevgeny Prigozhin, are trying to help Trump. The Trump White House would rather not share what the U.S. government knows about the subject. When William Evanina, chief of counterintelligence for...
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Key Trump Intel Nominee Defends ‘Fascist’ Portland Tactics
The Trump administration’s war on the so-called “deep state” has achieved some success. This isn’t the stuff of conspiracy theories. It’s the stuff of congressional hearings and presidential nominations. There is an ongoing struggle for control of the U.S. intelligence community, and Trump has made real but limited progress in bending the intelligence agencies to...
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Three Questions for Investigators of the COVID19 Intelligence Failure
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks President George Bush stoutly resisted the creation of a committee to investigate of how the hijackers were able to penetrate America’s defenses. Only the congressional intelligence committees should investigate, Bush said, and only behind closed doors. Vice President Cheney said those who charged the attacks on New York...