The Washington Post has the goods on the spy who came out of the cold: In 2017, the United States extracted from Russia an important CIA source who had provided information about the Kremlin’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to current and former officials. The operation, known as an exfiltration, followed mounting concerns among U.S. officials that the individual could be … Read More
One Day In Trumpworld
These things happened yesterday: (1) Trump gave William Barr total authority to declassify and release anything he wants regarding the Russia investigation, particularly anything from the intelligence community (who was told by executive order to cooperate). I don’t think there is a smoking gun showing that the “Deep State” was out to get Trump by starting what eventually became the Mueller investigation. … Read More
Breaking: White House Declares Executive Privilege Over Unredacted Mueller Report
NY Times: WASHINGTON — President Trump asserted executive privilege on Wednesday in an effort to shield hidden portions of Robert S. Mueller III’s unredacted report and the evidence he collected from Congress. The assertion, Mr. Trump’s first use of the secrecy powers as president, came as the House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Wednesday morning to recommend the House … Read More
Mnuchin Says No To Handing Over Trump’s Tax Returns
Surprising absolutely no one, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin thumbed his nose at the House of Representatives on Monday evening and decided not to turn over President Donald Trump’s business and personal tax returns after weeks of saying he just needed a little more time to think about it. In a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, Mnuchin, citing guidance … Read More
Trump Is Challenging Democrats On Many Fronts
President Donald Trump, while portraying himself as the victim in a political war, is foiling an aggressive House Democratic majority’s investigations with historic fervor by refusing to comply with many subpoenas and other oversight requests. On one level, this is nothing new. Prior Congresses and White Houses have certainly found themselves at odds over how much information to disclose. But … Read More
Whistleblower Says White House Reversed 25 Security Clearance Denials
WaPo: A White House whistleblower told lawmakers that more than two-dozen denials for security clearances have been overturned during the Trump administration, calling Congress her “last hope” for addressing what she considers improper conduct that has left the nation’s secrets exposed.Tricia Newbold, a longtime White House security adviser, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that she and her colleagues … Read More
Devin Nunes, GOP Head of House Intel Committee, Is Subject Of Leak Complaint By Senate Intel Committee
The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of private text messages between the Senate panel’s top Democrat and a Russian-connected lawyer, according to two congressional officials briefed on the matter. Senator Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, the committee’s Republican chairman, and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat, … Read More
Kushner Can’t See The Secret Stuff
Politico has the story: Presidential son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has had his security clearance downgraded — a move that will prevent him from viewing many of the sensitive documents to which he once had unfettered access. Kushner is not alone. All White House aides working on the highest-level interim clearances — at the Top Secret/SCI-level — were informed in … Read More
New Lead on Trump’s Obstruction Of Justice
The New York Times has a story that might prove pivotal in any obstruction-of-justice case that Mueller may pursue against Trump: The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has obtained a letter that President Trump and a top political aide drafted in the days before Mr. Trump fired the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, which explains the president’s rationale for why he … Read More
Will The Attorney General’s Investigation Into Leaks Snare Trump And Fox News?
Here is a tweet from Fox News this morning at 5:30 a.m.: U.S. spy satellites detect North Korea moving anti-ship cruise missiles to patrol boat https://t.co/BPFXsLffgy — FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 8, 2017 By the way, that’s some serious shit, but let’s set aside the content and just note that Fox & Friends linked to a Fox News site … Read More
Trump’s Vacation Doesn’t Stop The Tweets (and Leaks)
Nine tweets so far today from Trump — several attacking the “failing” New York Times for an article about 2020 Republicans contenders against Trump, a few trying to reassure everyone that he is actually “working” on his vacation, and this… … which seems to unintentionally confirm that there was… collusion? Ah well. Why did Trump go after Blumenthal? Probably this: … Read More
The Law of Leaks
Today is the day two story of the Flynn resignation and the White House wants us to focus on a different aspect of the story: the rampant leaks from the intelligence community. But for perspective, let’s start off with Trump’s most interesting morning tweet: The Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, … Read More
Lot Of Hypocrisy About Leaks
The Pentagon Papers was a leak from Daniel Ellsberg. It helped de-legitimize the Vietnam War. Deep Throat was Mark Felt, a top FBI official. He gave Woodward and Bernstein the deep background on the Watergate scandal. Edward Snowden leaked information about US government surveillance programs. Chelsea Manning leaked documents and video relating to Iraqi air strikes, diplomatic cables, and Gitmo, … Read More
Then And Now
53 years ago today, an outgoing President Eisenhower said: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” He went on: “We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or … Read More
Not The Same Thing, Sarah
Inexplicable? I've sort of been busy lately, so I haven't followed the Wikileaks things closely. But if I were to offer a premature uninformed opinion, it would be along the lines of "so what?" Is it an embarrassment to the U.S.? Of course. Is it surprising that we might diss our allies behind their back? No. And we know they diss us, … Read More
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2