[This piece first appeared in The New Republic, Feb. 12, 2020] When President Trump used his State of the Union address to call on Congress to pass legislation allowing crime victims to sue sanctuary cities for offenses committed by undocumented immigrants, CIA director Gina Haspel rose to her feet clapping. It was an unusual display...
Category: United States
Post
Post
John Bolton’s Bogus Defense of ‘Streamlining’ the Pandemic Office
One important step in restoring national safety is identifying demonstrable disinformation from public figures. Case in point: National Security Adviser John Bolton’s explanation of why he dismantled the National Security Council’s Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense less than two years ago. Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development,...
Post
Barr Says Investigation into CIA’s Russia Findings Continues
Even a global plague won’t stop Attorney General Bill Barr from pursuing former CIA director John Brennan. The latest on the investigation of U.S Attorney John Durham comes from the Washington Examiner: Durham was appointed last year by Barr to review possible misconduct by federal law enforcement and intelligence officials in the Russia investigation. The...
Post
Justice Department Seeks to Empower Judges to Detain People Indefinitely
CNN reported over the weekend that the Justice Department is seeking new powers in the wake of the COVID19 plague and Politico added some valuable detail New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Utah Republican Michael Lee have criticized the proposal. One provision is scary, according to civil liberties lawyers. The proposal would also grant those...
Post
Does Trump’s Purge of the Intelligence Community Make Us Less Safe?
Last month, Trump replaced the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) with the lightly-qualified Stephen Grenell, former ambassodr to Germany. Grenell proceeded to fire the head of the DNI’s counterterrorism center. This prompted some wailing from the national security establishment and predictable praise for Loras Shiao, the career official whom Grennell chose to replace Travers. Top...