Last month, I wrote a story of Trump’s machinations around the Office of Director of National Intelligence under the headline, “Trump’s Intelligence Rattles National Security Establishment.” Kent Harrington, former CIA officer and later an agency spokesman, uses the same word. “There is no question that Trump’s latest round of firings qualify as a ‘purge,'” he...
Category: United States
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Trump’s ODNI Shell Game: Keep a Loyalist in Top Intelligence Position
President Trump’s campaign to gain control of the U.S. intelligence community took a new old turn over the weekend. Trump nominated Texas congressman John Ratcliffe to serve as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Last month, he named Richard Grenell, currently U.S. ambassador to Germany as acting DNI. Neither man has any intelligence experience. Grenell isolated...
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$100 Million NSA Program Produced Exactly Two Unique Leads
Mass surveillance, whether you approve of it morally, is not practical. It does not enhance the safety of the American people. The results are in: only twice during that four-year period did the program generate unique information that the F.B.I. did not already possess, said the study, which was produced by the Privacy and Civil...
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The U.S. Intelligence Community Leaks on Sanders
The U.S. intelligence community is not a “deep state” conspiracy. It is a political faction, clad in official secrecy, and protected by general friendly media coverage. The intelligence community loathes and fears President Trump for his ignorance, his flouting of the traditional policymaking process, and now his desire to get control of U.S. intelligence agencies,...
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Groundswell: The Right-Wing Team Writing Trump’s ‘Deep State’ Hit List
Axios, the business newsletter that cultivates market-moving sources, has a detailed look at how President Trump is striking back at his perceived foes in the Executive Branch. The level of detail in the story makes it credible to me. A key figure is Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. She has a...