Sandy Shanks
Gold Member
- Jul 10, 2018
- 3,550
- 1,025
- 210
- Banned
- #1
It never ends with Trump. Its like he is reliving his days as a TV reality show host. Before flying off to Japan, he just had to start another crisis.
This one is dead serious if he gets his way. He is threatening the operations of our intelligence agencies, thereby threatening our national security.
Did everyone understand that. The President wants to threaten our national security.
What is the basis of this crisis? Trump says, he wants to know how this "witch hunt" started, this "hoax," referring to the Mueller report. He says it was "an attempted coup, or an attempted take down of the President of the United States." He wants to know how this "spying" operation began during the 2016 Presidential election.
Trump creates his own reality. We all know that by now, even his supporters, and he has a very convenient memory.
During the 2016 Presidential campaign, the FBI directer, James Comey, let it be known that one candidate was under suspicion and was being investigated. Comey reopened the investigation of this candidate eleven days before the election, which contributed to that candidate's defeat.
The candidate's name was Hillary Clinton. Benefiting from Comey's largesse was President Trump. During the election, Comey did not reveal that Trump, too, was being investigated. Yet Trump makes the outrageous, totally unsubstantiated claim that the FBI and CIA were involved in "an attempted coup, or an attempted take down of the President of the United States."
Trump has ordered all major US intelligence agencies to assist Attorney General William Barr in his review of surveillance issues surrounding Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, delegating significant authority to Barr to declassify sensitive intelligence materials as the attorney general sees fit.
Barr has already illustrated his powerful bias toward Trump, and this gives Barr the power to be very selective as to what intelligence he declassifies. Of course, Trump knows that.
But so do we.
The real danger is that Trump's decision is likely to reveal sources and methods to our enemies and put operatives at risk, American and others.
For example, there is the person close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia who provided information to the C.I.A. about his involvement in Moscow’s 2016 election interference. The concern is the source, who is believed to be still alive, may not continue in that state much longer because of the President's decision.
Sources and methods of intelligence gathering — among the government’s most closely held secrets — could be made public because the President has determined it suits his political purposes.
Much of the intelligence our agencies garner comes from the intelligence services of friendly nations. Britain, Australia, Japan, France, and Israel to name five. Their sources and methods are now endangered by Trump's order. It is quite likely that they will not be quite so cooperative in the future due to that order.
Once again, Vladimir Putin is quite pleased with Trump's performance.
This one is dead serious if he gets his way. He is threatening the operations of our intelligence agencies, thereby threatening our national security.
Did everyone understand that. The President wants to threaten our national security.
What is the basis of this crisis? Trump says, he wants to know how this "witch hunt" started, this "hoax," referring to the Mueller report. He says it was "an attempted coup, or an attempted take down of the President of the United States." He wants to know how this "spying" operation began during the 2016 Presidential election.
Trump creates his own reality. We all know that by now, even his supporters, and he has a very convenient memory.
During the 2016 Presidential campaign, the FBI directer, James Comey, let it be known that one candidate was under suspicion and was being investigated. Comey reopened the investigation of this candidate eleven days before the election, which contributed to that candidate's defeat.
The candidate's name was Hillary Clinton. Benefiting from Comey's largesse was President Trump. During the election, Comey did not reveal that Trump, too, was being investigated. Yet Trump makes the outrageous, totally unsubstantiated claim that the FBI and CIA were involved in "an attempted coup, or an attempted take down of the President of the United States."
Trump has ordered all major US intelligence agencies to assist Attorney General William Barr in his review of surveillance issues surrounding Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, delegating significant authority to Barr to declassify sensitive intelligence materials as the attorney general sees fit.
Barr has already illustrated his powerful bias toward Trump, and this gives Barr the power to be very selective as to what intelligence he declassifies. Of course, Trump knows that.
But so do we.
The real danger is that Trump's decision is likely to reveal sources and methods to our enemies and put operatives at risk, American and others.
For example, there is the person close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia who provided information to the C.I.A. about his involvement in Moscow’s 2016 election interference. The concern is the source, who is believed to be still alive, may not continue in that state much longer because of the President's decision.
Sources and methods of intelligence gathering — among the government’s most closely held secrets — could be made public because the President has determined it suits his political purposes.
Much of the intelligence our agencies garner comes from the intelligence services of friendly nations. Britain, Australia, Japan, France, and Israel to name five. Their sources and methods are now endangered by Trump's order. It is quite likely that they will not be quite so cooperative in the future due to that order.
Once again, Vladimir Putin is quite pleased with Trump's performance.