Thursday, August 16, 2018

John Brennan: President Trump’s Claims of No Collusion Are Hogwash


nytimesl

When I warned Mr. Bortnikov that Russian interference in our election was intolerable and would roil United States-Russia relations for many years, he denied Russian involvement in any election, in America or elsewhere, with a feigned sincerity that I had heard many times before. President Vladimir Putin of Russia reiterated those denials numerous times over the past two years, often to Donald Trump’s seeming approval.

Russian denials are, in a word, hogwash.

Before, during and after its now infamous meddling in our last presidential election, Russia practiced the art of shaping political events abroad through its well-honed active measures program, which employs an array of technical capabilities, information operations and old-fashioned human intelligence spycraft. Electoral politics in Western democracies presents an especially inviting target, as a variety of politicians, political parties, media outlets, think tanks and influencers are readily manipulated, wittingly and unwittingly, or even bought outright by Russian intelligence operatives. The very freedoms and liberties that liberal Western democracies cherish and that autocracies fear have been exploited by Russian intelligence services not only to collect sensitive information but also to distribute propaganda and disinformation, increasingly via the growing number of social media platforms.

Having worked closely with the F.B.I. over many years on counterintelligence investigations, I was well aware of Russia’s ability to work surreptitiously within the United States, cultivating relationships with individuals who wield actual or potential power. Like Mr. Bortnikov, these Russian operatives and agents are well trained in the art of deception. They troll political, business and cultural waters in search of gullible or unprincipled individuals who become pliant in the hands of their Russian puppet masters. Too often, those puppets are found.

In my many conversations with James Comey, the F.B.I. director, in the summer of 2016, we talked about the potential for American citizens, involved in partisan politics or not, to be pawns in Russian hands. We knew that Russian intelligence services would do all they could to achieve their objectives, which the United States intelligence community publicly assessed a few short months later were to undermine public faith in the American democratic process, harm the electability of the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, and show preference for Mr. Trump. We also publicly assessed that Mr. Putin’s intelligence services were following his orders. Director Comey and I, along with the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael Rogers, pledged that our agencies would share, as appropriate, whatever information was collected, especially considering the proven ability of Russian intelligence services to suborn United States citizens.

The already challenging work of the American intelligence and law enforcement communities was made more difficult in late July 2016, however, when Mr. Trump, then a presidential candidate, publicly called upon Russia to find the missing emails of Mrs. Clinton. By issuing such a statement, Mr. Trump was not only encouraging a foreign nation to collect intelligence against a United States citizen, but also openly authorizing his followers to work with our primary global adversary against his political opponent

5 comments :

  1. Is it possible John Brennan is lying?

    No. How can that be?

    What...a political appointee from the Obama Administration who is positioning himself for a job if and when the Democrats take back the White House? Lying? Nooooo!

    https://www.google.com/amp/www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/08/16/trump-was-right-to-revoke-brennans-security-clearance.amp.html

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  2. "Director Brennan's recent statements purport to know as fact that the Trump campaign colluded with a foreign power. If Director Brennan's statement is based on intelligence he received while still leading the CIA, why didn't he include it in the Intelligence Community Assessment released in 2017? If his statement is based on intelligence he has seen since leaving office, it constitutes an intelligence breach. If he has some other personal knowledge of or evidence of collusion, it should be disclosed to the Special Counsel, not The New York Times.

    "If, however, Director Brennan's statement is purely political and based on conjecture, the president has full authority to revoke his security clearance as head of the Executive Branch." 

    https://www.npr.org/2018/08/16/639223780/revocation-of-ex-cia-directors-clearance-draws-mixed-reaction-from-congress

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  3. “harm the electability of the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, and show preference for Mr. Trump. We also publicly assessed that Mr. Putin’s intelligence services were following his orders. Director Comey and I, along with the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael Rogers, pledged that our agencies would share, as appropriate, whatever information was collected, especially considering the proven ability of Russian intelligence services to suborn United States citizens.”

    Suborn definition “bribe or otherwise induce (someone) to commit an unlawful act such as perjury.”
    This relates to this week’s parsha Mishpatim: “You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice. You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just. Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 16:18-20).
    I heard. God did blind the eyes of Isaac: “When Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, My son. He answered, Here I am.” (Genesis 27:1). Isaac did take bribes from Esau: “Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste for game; but Rebekah favored Jacob. (Genesis 25:28). Jacob did upset the plea of the just, Jacob: “Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your first-born; I have done as you told me. Pray sit up and eat of my game, that you may give me your innermost blessing.” (Genesis 27:19).
    What is the “the proven ability of Russian intelligence services to suborn United States citizens?” Yes I agree: “I now am aware — thanks to the reporting of an open and free press — of many more of the highly suspicious dalliances of some American citizens with people affiliated with the Russian intelligence services.”
    Dalliance definition “a casual romantic or sexual relationship.”
    Russia send sexy spy ladies to suborn American citizens. My my. Beware! I follow closely the Mataford trial. I’m a Trump and Netanyahu supporters, a PhD economists and a CPA. Mueller’s witnesses were terrible. Bank officials knew Mataford well when they made their loans to him. The IRS too, knew Mataford well when they reviewed his CPA prepared taxes at the time. The IRS has no evidence of perjury. Ridiculous the testimony of Rick Gates, etc This will be the same with the coming trial of Matafort in Washington, DC.

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  4. What I don't understand is why the Americans aren't doing the same thing to the Russians?

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  5. Of course they are

    ReplyDelete

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