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by seemslikeadream » Wed Feb 15, 2017 8:54 pm
by seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 16, 2017 12:39 am
Spies Keep Intelligence From Donald Trump
Decision to withhold information underscores deep mistrust between intelligence community and president
By SHANE HARRIS and CAROL E. LEE
Feb. 15, 2017 8:42 p.m. ET
U.S. intelligence officials have withheld sensitive intelligence from President Donald Trump because they are concerned it could be leaked or compromised, according to current and former officials familiar with the matter.
The officials’ decision to keep information from Mr. Trump underscores the deep mistrust that has developed between the intelligence community and the president over his team’s contacts with the Russian government, as well as the enmity he has shown toward U.S. spy agencies. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump accused the agencies of leaking information to undermine him.
In some of these cases of withheld information, officials have decided not to show Mr. Trump the sources and methods that the intelligence agencies use to collect information, the current and former officials said. Those sources and methods could include, for instance, the means that an agency uses to spy on a foreign government.
Intelligence officials have in the past not told a president or members of Congress about the ins and outs of how they ply their trade. At times, they have decided that secrecy is essential for protecting a source, and that all a president needs to know is what that source revealed and what the intelligence community thinks is important about it.
But in these previous cases in which information was withheld, the decision wasn’t motivated by a concern about a president’s trustworthiness or discretion, the current and former officials said.
It wasn’t clear Wednesday how many times officials have held back information from Mr. Trump.
The officials emphasized that they know of no instance in which crucial information about security threats or potential plotting has been omitted. Still, the misgivings that have emerged among intelligence officials point to the fissures spreading between the White House and the U.S. spy agencies.
Mr. Trump, a Republican, asked Monday night for the resignation of Mike Flynn, his national security adviser, after the White House said the president lost trust in him, in part, because he misstated the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump castigated the intelligence agencies and the news media, blaming them for Mr. Flynn’s downfall.
“The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by ‘intelligence’ like candy. Very un-American!” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Mr. Trump doesn’t immerse himself in intelligence information, and it isn’t clear that he has expressed a desire to know sources and methods. The intelligence agencies have been told to dramatically pare down the president’s daily intelligence briefing, both the number of topics and how much information is described under each topic, an official said. Compared with his immediate predecessors, Mr. Trump so far has chosen to rely less on the daily briefing than they did.
The current and former officials said the decision to avoid revealing sources and methods with Mr. Trump stems in large part from the president’s repeated expressions of admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his call, during the presidential campaign for Russia to continue hacking the emails of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia stole and leaked emails from Mrs. Clinton’s campaign to undermine the election process and try to boost Mr. Trump’s chances of winning, an allegation denied by Russian officials.
Several of Mr. Trump’s current and former advisers are under investigation for the nature of their ties to Moscow, according to people familiar with the matter. After Mr. Flynn’s dismissal, lawmakers have called on the government to release the transcripts of his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and to disclose whether Mr. Trump was aware of or directed Mr. Flynn’s conversations.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he has heard concerns from officials about sharing especially sensitive information with Mr. Trump.
“I’ve talked with people in the intelligence community that do have concerns about the White House, about the president, and I think those concerns take a number of forms,” Mr. Schiff said, without confirming any specific incidents. “What the intelligence community considers their most sacred obligation is to protect the very best intelligence and to protect the people that are producing it.”
“I’m sure there are people in the community who feel they don’t know where he’s coming from on Russia,” Mr. Schiff said.
Tensions between the spy agencies and Mr. Trump were pronounced even before he took office, after he publicly accused the Central Intelligence Agency and others of leaking information about alleged Russian hacking operations to undermine the legitimacy of his election win. In a meandering speech in front of a revered CIA memorial the day after his inauguration, Mr. Trump boasted about the size of his inaugural crowd and accused the media of inventing a conflict between him and the agencies.
In a news conference on Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Mr. Trump again lashed out at the media and intelligence officials, whom he accused of “criminal” leaks about Mr. Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador last December.
Mr. Trump didn’t explain Wednesday why he asked for Mr. Flynn’s resignation. Instead, he suggested the leaks and the media were to blame for his ouster.
“General Flynn is a wonderful man. I think he’s been treated very, very unfairly by the media,” Mr. Trump said. “And I think it’s really a sad thing that he was treated so badly.”
“I think in addition to that from intelligence, papers are being leaked, things are being leaked,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s criminal action. It’s a criminal act and it’s been going on for a long time before me but now it’s really going on.”
Reviving his line of criticism against intelligence officials during the transition, Mr. Trump said the “illegally leaked” information was from people with political motivations. “People are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the Democrats had under Hillary Clinton,” Mr. Trump said.
A person close to Mr. Trump said he was reluctant to let go of Mr. Flynn because Mr. Flynn had vigorously supported him at a stage of his presidential campaign when few people did. Mr. Trump also felt Mr. Flynn did nothing wrong in his conversations with the U.S. ambassador to Russia and had good intentions.
“They both continue to support each other,” this person said.
For intelligence veterans, who had hoped that Mr. Trump’s feud with the agencies might have subsided, Wednesday’s comments renewed and deepened concerns.
“This is not about who won the election. This is about concerns about institutional integrity,” said Mark Lowenthal, a former senior intelligence official.
“It’s probably unprecedented to have this difficult a relationship between a president and the intelligence agencies,” Mr. Lowenthal said. “I can’t recall ever seeing this level of friction. And it’s just not good for the country.”
Several congressional probes are examining Russia’s alleged meddling in the election. On Wednesday, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee requested a Justice Department briefing and documents related to Mr. Flynn’s resignation, including details of his communications with Russian officials.
—Damian Paletta contributed to this article.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/spies-keep ... 1487209351
by seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 16, 2017 8:32 am
Donald Trump emulating 'autocratic' Vladimir Putin's actions in the 2000s, says former US ambassador to Russia
Michael McFaul says Russian President launched similar attacks on media and judiciary
The US’ former ambassador to Russia has accused Donald Trump of emulating Vladimir Putin’s “autocratic” style in his opening weeks in office.
Michael McFaul, who was Barack Obama’s envoy to Moscow between 2012 and 2014, said the President’s “warm statements” over his Russian counterpart were worrying.
“I know what kind of a leader Putin is and he’s an autocratic ruler, so I don’t want to see that replicated here,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“I’m not against getting along with Russia, I worked very hard to try to do that when I was in the Obama administration for five years, but getting along cannot be the goal of US foreign policy.”
michael-mcfaul.jpg
Michael McFaul (right) leaves the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow in 2013 (Getty)
Mr McFaul, who was placed on the Kremlin’s sanctions list and banned from entering Russia last year, drew comparisons between Mr Trump’s conduct and that of Mr Putin during his first presidential term in the early 2000s.
“When [Mr Trump] calls the press the enemy, for instance, that reminds me of Vladimir Putin in 2000 when he declared that the press was the enemy and went after them,” he said.
“When President Trump questions our rule of law, our judges, that reminds me of an earlier period of Russian history in the early Putin years when over time the judiciary became more subservient to the presidency.”
But Mr McFaul, now a Stanford University professor, said he was optimistic that America’s “democratic institutions are much more robust” than Russia’s when Mr Putin’s presidency started in 2000.
He pointed to a judge’s suspension of Mr Trump’s executive order banning migration from seven Muslim-majority countries and the national security adviser’s resignation as encouraging signs of an independent judiciary and free press.
But Mr McFaul cautioned that people must remain “vigilant” as Mr Trump’s aims towards Russia remain unclear as tensions over its backing for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, involvement in the Ukrainian war and disputes with Nato continue.
Despite his complimentary statements towards Russia and vows to improve relations, the White House said the President was “incredibly tough on Russia” and would maintain sanctions, as well as demanding it deescalates violence in Ukraine and withdraws from Crimea.
The Russian government responded to the statement by saying it would not return Crimea to Ukraine, describing the occupied peninsula as “our territory” after annexing it in 2014.
Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, later reacted angrily to comments by his American counterpart James Mattis after he spoke of the need to negotiate with Russia “from a position of strength”.
"We are ready to restore cooperation with the Pentagon,” he said. “But attempts to build dialogue from a position of strength with regard to Russia is futile.”
The statement came just hours before General Joe Dunford and General Valery Gerasimov, the US and Russian chiefs of staff, were to hold talks in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan in the first meeting between the two countries' senior members of the military since Mr Trump was elected.
The public dispute set the stage for an unexpectedly frosty meeting due later on Thursday between Russia’s foreign minister and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was awarded the Russian “order of friendship” by Mr Putin in 2013.
Mr Tillerson, who will meet Sergey Lavrov in the German city of Bonn, had close business ties with Russia through his former post as CEO of the oil giant Exxon Mobil.
The Secretary of State has yet to comment publicly on Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election or its actions in Syria and Ukraine, which sparked continuing US sanctions against Moscow.
Mike Pence claims there was no contact between Russia and Trump campaign
Revelations that former national security adviser Michael Flynn gave “incomplete information” over the contents of his phone calls to the Russian ambassador during the transition forced his resignation earlier this week.
Both Republicans and Democrats have called for an independent investigation into the scandal and whether it violated laws preventing civilians engaging in diplomacy.
Fresh allegations then emerged that members of Mr Trump’s campaign team had “repeated contacts” with Russian intelligence officials during the year leading up to the November vote.
The President responded by accusing the “fake news media” of “going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred”.
He tweeted: “The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by ‘intelligence’ like candy. Very un-American!”
The Russian government dismissed the allegations as “not based on any facts”, despite deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov previously saying there had been communication between the Russian government and members of Mr Trump’s political team.
“There were contacts,” he told Interfax in November. “We are doing this and have been doing this during the election campaign.”
Hope Hicks, the spokesperson for the President’s campaign, issued a denial at the time saying members “had no contact with Russian officials”.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 82881.html
Donald Trump is suddenly looking like a very weak autocrat
By Greg Sargent February 15 at 10:10 AM
(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
THE MORNING PLUM:
President Trump once again unleashed a fearsome barrage of tweets on Wednesday morning. The target was the New York Times’s new report that intelligence officials have established contacts between Russian intelligence and Trump campaign officials during the campaign.
Trump attacked the news media again, railing that “the fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred.” He also blasted the intelligence services, claiming that they are “illegally” giving information to the media, which, he opined, is “just like Russia.”
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This has become a pattern, in which Trump deals with setbacks by lashing out at other institutions, including ones that can function as a check on his power. When the courts blocked his immigration ban, he blasted both the courts and the news media for making us less safe, in what seemed to be designed to lay the groundwork to blame them for a future terrorist attack, a move that even some Republicans criticized for its authoritarian tendencies. This appeared to be a test run of sorts, in which Trump was experimenting with how far he could go in delegitimizing the institutions that might act as a check on his power later.
[The Flynn crisis paralyzes the White House]
But as a test run, for now, at least, it is failing. Trump’s unchecked antics on multiple fronts are suddenly making him look like a very weak autocrat wannabe.
The Times’ new report is actually pretty carefully drawn. It notes that phone records and intercepted calls show “repeated contacts” between members of the Trump campaign and “senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election.” These were discovered at around the time that evidence emerged that Russia was trying to interfere in the election. The report stressed that intelligence officials did not name particular Trump campaign officials, other than Paul Manafort, and have not seen evidence of collusion (“so far”) designed to influence our political process.
What led to Michael Flynn's undoing? Play Video2:15
The resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn comes on the heels of reports that he discussed U.S. sanctions with the Russian ambassador while a civilian, before President Trump took office. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)
CNN also weighed in with a similar investigation, reporting that “high-level advisers close to” Trump were in “constant communication during the campaign with Russians known to U.S. intelligence.” CNN added that Trump had been briefed on this after the election. If that last detail is true, then it means Trump knows that intelligence officials have, indeed, concluded that this happened. Which might explain why some of his tweets today sort of function as confirmation of the stories, by blasting intel agencies for leaking classified information.
Indeed, the lashing out is beginning to look less and less fearsome, and more and more impulsively buffoonish and self-defeating. And there’s a broader pattern developing here, one that undermines a key narrative about the Trump presidency, in which Trump is pursuing strategic disruption and breaking all the old rules and norms to further an unconventional presidency that is designed to render the old way of doing business irrelevant. It’s obvious that all of this is now actively undermining his own designs, on multiple fronts.
Consider: The use of the White House bully pulpit by Trump and his top aides to interfere in a dispute between Nordstrom and Ivanka Trump — which seemed intended as a big middle finger to the pointy-headed ethical norms police — resulted in Republicans condemning it. The trip to Mar-a-Lago with the Japanese prime minister — another intended sign that Trump will damn well use the presidency to enrich himself if he pleases, by turning his own resort into an official court of sorts while pocketing the profits from it — ended up getting marred by the surprise North Korea ballistic missile test. This made his administration look incompetent, chaotic, unprepared and unconcerned about basic security protocol.
The administration’s handling of the Michael Flynn fiasco was a mess that was partially created by Trump himself. We now know he had been briefed three weeks ago that the Justice Department concluded Flynn had misled Vice President Pence about contacts with the Russian ambassador. Yet Flynn remained, and new reporting indicates that this was driven in part because of high-level White House skepticism about the Justice Department’s warnings — something that likely emanated from Trump himself. The botched rollout of Trump’s travel ban — the first high-level exercise in translating Trumpism into reality — was a legal and substantive disaster, largely because of a lack of concern over basic legal and process niceties that also reflected Trump’s evolving leadership style.
Spicer denies Trump campaign communicated with Russia before election Play Video1:16
White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the Trump campaign did not have contact with Russian officials before the election, during his daily briefing on Feb. 14 at the White House. (The White House)
Meanwhile, today’s events are a reminder that the press is bearing down hard on the Russia story, which may make it harder and harder for Republicans to continue resisting a full accounting.
To be sure, Trump is getting a lot of his Cabinet nominees confirmed. It’s likely that Trump and Republicans will win a lot of victories before long, ones that will be very demoralizing to Democrats. It is also true that the White House has at its disposal a tremendous range of tools to take control of events and news cycles, thus turning things around. So all of this might change soon enough. A doubling-down on Trump’s worst policies, perhaps in the form of a newly implemented and then expanded “Muslim ban,” or in the form of stepped-up deportations, remain real possibilities. A terrorist attack could empower Trump and lead to far worse.
But right now, Trump looks weaker, less effective and even more ridiculous than anyone might have anticipated — and it happened surprisingly quickly, too.
***********************************************************
* DEMS PUSH FOR INDEPENDENT PROBE: The Senate Intelligence Committee will investigate Russian meddling into the election, but Carl Hulse reports that Democrats think this could bury the findings and want a more independent, transparent investigation:
Some…Democrats are not happy that the bulk of the inquiry will remain the purview of the intelligence panel given that much of its deliberations are conducted…away from the prying eyes of the news media and the public….Creating a special committee or commission would require the consent of both parties, and the idea is more likely to gain traction if [investigators] uncover compelling evidence that would make it hard to resist demands for a deeper, more public investigation.
This is where the press (and leakers to them) may end up playing a key role — in uncovering more details that make it harder for Republicans to duck the need for a full accounting.
* WHITE HOUSE WAS SKEPTICAL OF FLYNN WARNING: The Post reports that senior White House officials didn’t believe the Justice Department’s warnings that Michael Flynn had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador, which is why he remained in place:
Within the White House, the matter was viewed skeptically…Over the next two weeks, the officials said, Flynn was asked multiple times about what exactly he had said. He brushed aside the suggestion that he had spoken about sanctions with the ambassador — denials that kept him afloat within the White House even as he was being actively evaluated, they said.
The White House claims Trump asked Flynn to resign because his trust “eroded,” but the precipitating event was probably that the news of the Justice Department’s warning went public.
* WHO IS TARGETED BY TRUMP’S DEPORTATIONS? Trump says his new deportation raids are aimed only at “hardened criminals,” but Michelle Ye Hee Lee finds a more complex story, in which Trump is going beyond Obama’s enforcement priorities:
ICE has always targeted dangerous criminals in enforcement priorities. The recent arrests, however, did include people who would not have fallen under Obama’s narrower enforcement priorities….such people — which DHS has categorized as 25 percent of the arrests — had lesser charges and noncriminal convictions, and are not the “very, very hardened criminals” that Trump describes.
Trump and his advisers are in many ways keeping this ambiguous, suggesting it may be a test run for expanded deportations later.
* MITCH McCONNELL IS JUST FINE WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP: The Senate majority leader said this on “Morning Joe” today:
“He’s different. But I like what he’s doing. I like the attack on overregulation. I like the cabinet appointments. I think the Supreme Court nominee was superb. I think he picked the single most outstanding circuit judge in America to be on the Supreme Court.”
The real question is how much longer Republicans can resist exercising real oversight simply because they like Trump’s agenda.
* IS CORPORATE AMERICA WORRIED ABOUT TRUMP ON TRADE? Ben White reports that corporate executives are increasingly worried about Trump’s “nationalist” agenda on trade, but he also adds this little tidbit:
Corporate lobbyists privately say they expect that more strident views on trade and immigration inside the White House, championed by top advisers including…Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon, will eventually give way to more moderate approaches favored by National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Steven Mnuchin at Treasury.
A reminder: Just because Trump says he will renegotiate our trade deals doesn’t mean he’ll do so in the interests of workers. He could do this in a way that makes corporations happier.
* NO MORE KELLYANNE CONWAY ON ‘MORNING JOE’? Mediaite flags an interesting moment on “Morning Joe“: Mika Brzezinski seeming to suggest that Kellyanne Conway will no longer be welcome on the show because she lies so much:
“I know for a fact she tries to book herself on this show; I won’t do it…Every time I’ve ever seen her on television, something’s askew, off, or incorrect…I will say: Kellyanne Conway does not need to text our show, just as long as I’m on it, because it’s not happening here.”
No word yet on whether this is official policy, but it’s an interesting move: Will other networks follow suit?
* QUOTE OF THE DAY, BOUNDLESS-GOP-HYPOCRISY EDITION: Kurt Bardella, a former senior Republican House aide, calls on House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair Jason Chaffetz and other Republicans to exercise real oversight on Trump:
“When the tragedy of Benghazi unfolded…Jason Chaffetz was rushing to every news camera he could find to call for investigation. The litany of conflicts-of-interest and legitimate security questions that exist but have gone unanswered in the Trump Administration are more than enough grounds for numerous investigations and hearings.”
Yes, but the difference here is that this president will sign GOP bills that cut taxes for the rich and shred regulations and the safety net. Duh!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pl ... 3990979a48
by seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 16, 2017 11:30 am
White House Plans to Have Trump Ally Review Intelligence Agencies
By JAMES RISEN and MATTHEW ROSENBERGFEB. 15, 2017
Stephen A. Feinberg, right, a founder of Cerberus Capital Management, at the Capitol in December 2008. He is said to be in talks for a White House role examining the country’s intelligence agencies. Credit Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Trump plans to assign a New York billionaire to lead a broad review of American intelligence agencies, according to administration officials, an effort that members of the intelligence community fear could curtail their independence and reduce the flow of information that contradicts the president’s worldview.
The possible role for Stephen A. Feinberg, a co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, has met fierce resistance among intelligence officials already on edge because of the criticism the intelligence community has received from Mr. Trump during the campaign and since he became president. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump blamed leaks from the intelligence community for the departure of Michael T. Flynn, his national security adviser, whose resignation he requested.
There has been no announcement of Mr. Feinberg’s job, which would be based in the White House, but he recently told his company’s shareholders that he is in discussions to join the Trump administration. He is a member of Mr. Trump’s economic advisory council.
Mr. Feinberg, who has close ties to Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, declined to comment on his possible position. The White House, which is still working out the details of the intelligence review, also would not comment.
Photo
Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s chief strategist, and Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, in the Oval Office this month. Mr. Feinberg has close ties to both men. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times
Bringing Mr. Feinberg into the administration to conduct the review is seen as a way of injecting a Trump loyalist into a world the White House views with suspicion. But top intelligence officials fear that Mr. Feinberg is being groomed for a high position in one of the intelligence agencies.
Mr. Bannon and Mr. Kushner, according to current and former intelligence officials and Republican lawmakers, had at one point considered Mr. Feinberg for either director of national intelligence or chief of the Central Intelligence Agency’s clandestine service, a role that is normally reserved for career intelligence officers, not friends of the president. Mr. Feinberg’s only experience with national security matters is his firm’s stakes in a private security company and two gun makers.
On an array of issues — including the Iran nuclear deal, the utility of NATO, and how best to combat Islamist militancy — much of the information and analysis produced by American intelligence agencies contradicts the policy positions of the new administration. The divide is starkest when it comes to Russia and President Vladimir V. Putin, whom Mr. Trump has repeatedly praised while dismissing American intelligence assessments that Moscow sought to promote his own candidacy.
Against this backdrop, Mr. Trump has appointed Mike Pompeo, a former Republican congressman from Kansas, to run the C.I.A., and former Senator Dan Coats, an Indiana Republican, to be the director of national intelligence (he is still awaiting confirmation). Both were the preferred choices of the Republican congressional leadership and Vice President Mike Pence and had no close or longstanding ties to Mr. Trump. In fact, they each endorsed Senator Marco Rubio of Florida for president during the 2016 Republican primaries.
But the potential White House role for Mr. Feinberg follows intense speculation among intelligence professionals that Mr. Feinberg is in line for a powerful position within the intelligence community.
Reports that Mr. Feinberg was under consideration to run the clandestine service rocked the intelligence community in recent weeks, raising the prospect of direct White House control over America’s spies at a time when Mr. Trump’s ties to Mr. Putin are under investigation by the F.B.I. and congressional committees.
The last time an outsider with no intelligence experience took the job was in the early days of the Reagan administration, when Max Hugel, a businessman who had worked on Mr. Reagan’s campaign, was named to run the spy service. His tenure at the C.I.A. was marked by turmoil and questions about the politicization of the agency. He was forced to resign after six months, amid accusations about his past business dealings. (He later won a libel case against the two brothers who made the accusations.)
Even the prospect that Mr. Feinberg may lead a review for the White House has raised concerns in the intelligence community.
Mr. Coats is especially angry at what he sees as a move by Mr. Bannon and Mr. Kushner to sideline him before he is even confirmed, according to current and former officials. He believes the review would impinge on a central part of his role as the director of national intelligence and fears that if Mr. Feinberg were working at the White House, he could quickly become a dominant voice on intelligence matters.
Michael V. Hayden, a retired general who ran the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency during President George W. Bush’s administration, said it was hard to wrap his head around “the idea of a D.N.I. nominee in the confirmation process while others consider retooling the position.”
Photo
Mike Pompeo, center, the C.I.A. director, being sworn in last month by Vice President Mike Pence. Mr. Pompeo does not see an urgent need for a review of the intelligence community. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times
“I think I’d be concerned, too,” he said.
The challenge is less immediate for Mr. Pompeo. He does not see an urgent need for a review of the intelligence community, according to current and former American officials, but sees it as better than the appointment of Mr. Feinberg to a job with actual authority over daily intelligence operations.
Many intelligence officials question what purpose a White House intelligence review would serve other than to position Mr. Feinberg for a larger role in the future. Most significant changes to the intelligence community would require an act of Congress, a fact that would ultimately blunt whatever ideas or proposals Mr. Feinberg came up with. Even with a Republican majority in both houses, getting Congress to agree to major changes to intelligence agencies seems unlikely.
It is difficult to “object to someone putting fresh eyes on the organization of the intelligence community,” Mr. Hayden said. “But, even though the D.N.I. staff has become far too large, I don’t think any of us think a major restructuring of the community is in order.”
Tensions between the intelligence community and the White House have already played out on several fronts. Before Mr. Flynn was forced out, one of his top aides, Robin Townley, was denied a security clearance by the C.I.A. But distrust of the intelligence community has been building for years in conservative political circles, where the C.I.A. during the Obama administration was seen as heavily politicized.
Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa, said in a recent interview that some officials in the intelligence community were trustworthy but “not all.”
Another Republican lawmaker said that the predominant view at the White House is also that the politicians in the intelligence agencies need to be cleaned out.
Through Cerberus, his private equity company, Mr. Feinberg has strong ties to the government contracting industry. Cerberus owns DynCorp International, which has had a wide array of large contracts providing security to the State Department and other agencies. DynCorp is now locked in a major legal dispute over the fate of a $10 billion State Department contract that it previously held to provide air support for counternarcotics operations overseas.
John F. Kelly, the new Homeland Security secretary, was paid $166,000 a year as a DynCorp adviser until he was named to the new administration.
Cerberus also owns Remington Outdoor, a major firearms manufacturer.
In 2008, Mr. Feinberg also considered investing in Blackwater, the security firm founded by Erik Prince, a former member of the Navy SEALs, before it was ultimately acquired by other investors.
New York magazine reported last year that Mr. Feinberg went to Blackwater’s North Carolina compound in 2005 to take firearms training.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/us/p ... nberg.html
Dem senator: Trump tax returns could explain his Russia position
BY MALLORY SHELBOURNE - 02/15/17 09:57 AM EST 260
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) says an investigation that would produce President Trump’s tax returns could shed light on Trump’s “bizarre positioning” towards Russia.
“Legislation establishing a special Senate committee could theoretically give it the power to get these tax returns. That is fully within the power of the United States Congress,” Murphy told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Trump did not release his tax returns during his bid for the presidency, breaking with modern-day American electoral tradition.
Murphy's remarks come a day after a New York Times report alleging that Trump associates had "repeated contacts" with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign.
Murphy said “it’s clear” that there is another explanation for Trump’s views of Russia. Trump has previously said that only “stupid people” think it is a bad idea to have a positive relationship with the Kremlin.
“Increasingly it’s clear that there is some alternative explanation for this bizarre positioning, this softness on Russia, this permission slip that Trump has given Russia to act in ways that they have not acted in the last 20 years,” Murphy added.
Murphy said Tuesday that the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn was necessary, but added that now there are "way more questions than answers on President Trump's relationship with Russia." Since Flynn's resignation, Senate Democrats have called for a special committee or independent commission to investigate Russia's meddling in the U.S. election and any potential connections between Trump campaign staff and Russian officials.
Flynn resigned earlier this week following reports that he discussed sanctions with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak. Flynn originally told White House officials, including Vice President Pence, that the two did not discuss sanctions in their conversation prior to Trump’s inauguration.
Murphy said Wednesday that “there doesn’t seem to be any normal course of international relations explanation” for Trump’s outlook on Russia, suggesting Trump may have some other ties to the Kremlin.
“And that explanation is either that the Russians have something on Trump, or that there are financial ties that are requiring Trump to behave this way or perhaps the Russians helped him in the election and this is sort of a quid pro quo,” Murphy said.
Last month, the intelligence community concluded in a declassified report that Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an influence campaign, including hacking, to help Trump win the presidency. The report, however, did not assess the impact Russia’s actions had on the election.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3196 ... a-position
by seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 16, 2017 12:21 pm
What Donald Trump Learned From Joseph McCarthy’s Right-Hand Man
By JONATHAN MAHLER and MATT FLEGENHEIMERJUNE 20, 2016
Roy Cohn in Manhattan in 1982. Mr. Cohn, who made his reputation as a prosecutor in the Rosenberg espionage case and as an aide to Senator Joseph McCarthy, was Mr. Trump’s lawyer for 13 years. Credit Ron Galella/WireImage
The future Mrs. Donald J. Trump was puzzled.
She had been summoned to a lunch meeting with her husband-to-be and his lawyer to review a prenuptial agreement. It required that, should the couple split, she return everything — cars, furs, rings — that Mr. Trump might give her during their marriage.
Sensing her sorrow, Mr. Trump apologized, Ivana Trump later testified in a divorce deposition. He said it was his lawyer’s idea.
“It is just one of those Roy Cohn numbers,” Mr. Trump told her.
The year was 1977, and Mr. Cohn’s reputation was well established. He had been Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Red-baiting consigliere. He had helped send the Rosenbergs to the electric chair for spying and elect Richard M. Nixon president.
Then New York’s most feared lawyer, Mr. Cohn had a client list that ran the gamut from the disreputable to the quasi-reputable: Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno, Claus von Bulow, George Steinbrenner.
But there was one client who occupied a special place in Roy Cohn’s famously cold heart: Donald J. Trump
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/us/p ... -cohn.html
by seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:44 pm
Donald Trump Just Launched A War On Whistleblowers
The president is suggesting a major purge is in the offing.
02/16/2017 08:42 am ET | Updated 2 hours ago
Sam Stein
Senior Politics Editor, The Huffington Post
President Donald Trump is launching a war on leakers, attempting to turn a story about the firing of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, into a campaign to purge and clean out intelligence agencies.
The latest salvo came Thursday in classic Trumpian fashion: early-morning tweets attacking a national newspaper and making vague threats.Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
Leaking, and even illegal classified leaking, has been a big problem in Washington for years. Failing @nytimes (and others) must apologize!
5:58 AM - 16 Feb 2017Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
The spotlight has finally been put on the low-life leakers! They will be caught!
Trump is hardly the first president to want to clamp down on leaks and whistleblowing. His predecessor was particularly aggressive in going after news outlets for publishing sensitive information. But whereas Barack Obama’s efforts centered around protecting policy secrecy, Trump’s main priority seems to be protecting himself. The leaks that preceded Flynn’s firing raised questions as to whether the now former adviser had communicated with Russia on behalf of Trump to promise an easing of sanctions once the administration took power.
Trump has insisted that Flynn did nothing wrong in making those calls, despite suggestions that they served to undermine the Obama administration’s efforts to punish Russia for meddling in the 2016 elections. His response, instead, has been to look elsewhere in the government for malfeasance. The president has reportedly asked Stephen Feinberg, a private equity executive and close ally of Trump’s, to run a comprehensive overview of intelligence agencies ― a request that has intel officials worried about a coming purge.
And Trump isn’t the only one making this a focus. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) tweeted early Thursday that congressional committees need to investigate the leaking of information on Flynn’s phone calls.
The attack-the-leaker mood already has support on Capitol Hill among Trump allies. On Wednesday evening, House Oversight Committee Chair Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) formally requested an investigation into whether classified information was leaked to the press in the process of exposing Flynn’s conversations.
In a letter to the inspector general of the Department of Justice, co-signed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Chaffetz noted that many of the reports surrounding Flynn referred to phone surveillance operations and direct communications over sensitive material between the Department of Justice and the White House.
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“It seems probable that the fact that an intelligence agency monitored the call, if it did, as well as any recording of the call, would be classified,” the letter reads. “We have serious concerns about the potential inadequate protection of classified information here.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) has also put less emphasis on looking into the substance of Flynn’s calls than on investigating why those calls made it into press reports. Combined, his and Chaffetz’s pursuits have Democrats howling that congressional oversight is being dropped in favor of political protection for the White House.
“Chairman Chaffetz appears to be taking his marching orders directly from President Trump’s tweet yesterday,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said Thursday. “Instead of investigating General Flynn’s lies and his troubling ties with Russia, he chose to target those who brought them to light. Congress should be doing independent oversight of the Executive Branch and protecting whistleblowers, not running interference while the White House conceals their abuses and misleads the American people for weeks.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/don ... d17d252e28
by seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:53 pm
US Special Ops chief: US government 'in unbelievable turmoil'
By Ryan Browne and Barbara Starr, CNN
Updated 10:01 PM ET, Tue February 14, 2017
It wasn't exactly clear what Thomas was referring to
But his remarks come soon after Michael Flynn was forced to step down as national security adviser
Washington (CNN)The head of US Special Operations Command said Tuesday that the US government is in "unbelievable turmoil," a situation that he suggested could undermine US efforts to fight adversaries such as ISIS.
"Our government continues to be in unbelievable turmoil. I hope they sort it out soon because we're a nation at war," Army Gen. Raymond "Tony" Thomas told a symposium in Maryland.
While it wasn't exactly clear what Thomas was referring to, his remarks come less than 24 hours after retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was forced to step down as national security adviser, becoming by far the shortest tenured adviser in history.
Thomas oversees America's elite Special Operations troops, including Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets, which have played a large role in carrying out the nation's conflicts since 9/11.
Asked later about his comments, Thomas, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, said: "As a commander, I'm concerned our government be as stable as possible."
The role of President Donald Trump's national security adviser is currently being performed on a temporary basis by retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who was serving under Flynn as the National Security Council chief of staff until the Flynn's Monday night resignation.
Retired Gen. David Petraeus is rumored to be in the running as a permanent replacement, as is retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward, a former Navy SEAL.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/14/politics/ ... index.html
by 82_28 » Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:55 pm
by seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:25 pm
Tillerson Forced to Stay at Sanatorium in German Village for G-20
Nick Wadhams and Patrick Donahue
February 16, 2017, 11:47 AM CST
On his first trip abroad as U.S. secretary of state, Rex Tillerson was forced to stay at a sanitarium in a German village known for its hot springs, 30 minutes from where other world leaders gathered. Diplomatic security agents mingled in the parking lot with elderly people in wheelchairs arriving for spa treatments.
Tillerson, the former head of Exxon Mobil Corp., was at the sanitarium because Bonn’s hotels were all booked by the time he confirmed his attendance at this week’s Group of 20 meeting. Counterparts including U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had to make a trek out to meet him.
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/arti ... s-diplomat
by 82_28 » Thu Feb 16, 2017 8:32 pm
by SonicG » Thu Feb 16, 2017 8:49 pm
82_28 » Fri Feb 17, 2017 7:32 am wrote:Word is is that "Mad Dog Mattis" is resigning because Trump is too crazy. Stay tuned!
THE TOPLINE: Defense Secretary James Mattis is making headlines from Europe where he's attending the NATO defense ministers' conference in Brussels.
On Thursday, the Pentagon chief ruled out military cooperation between the United States and Russia, and said he has "little doubt" Russia has interfered in elections.
"We do not or are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level, but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward where Russia, living up to its commitments, will return to a partnership of sorts here with NATO," Mattis said at a press conference.
And when asked about Russian meddling in the U.S. election, Mattis responded: "There is very little doubt that they have either interfered or attempted to interfere in a number of elections in democracies."
That came before President Trump tweeted that Democrats "made up" the story that Russia interfered in the U.S. election.
by 82_28 » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:03 pm
by SonicG » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:11 pm
Trump names Alexander Acosta as new pick for labor secretary
A day after the dramatic exit of one of his Cabinet nominees, President Trump on Thursday named former U.S. attorney Alexander Acosta as his next pick for labor secretary.
Acosta served as an assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division under President George W. Bush and is a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. He also previously served on the National Labor Relations Board and is now the dean of the law school at Florida International University. Acosta also served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Jr., when he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
“He has had a tremendous career,” Trump said Thursday, adding that Acosta had “been through Senate confirmation three times.”
Acosta earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and received a law degree from Harvard Law School. He previously worked at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis and taught at the George Mason University Law School.
If confirmed, the Cuban American would be the first Hispanic member of Trump’s Cabinet.
...
Acosta may also face questions about a high-profile case he oversaw as a U.S. attorney in South Florida. In 2008, federal prosecutors negotiated what some critics categorized as a sweetheart plea deal for a billionaire hedge fund manager accused of having sex with underage girls.
Jeffrey Epstein avoided federal charges and served 13 months in county jail after he pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution, an outcome that was highly criticized by the alleged victims. Years later, according to a 2011 letter posted online by the Daily Beast, Acosta said the prosecution faced a “year-long assault” from the defense team. “Some may feel that the prosecution should have been tougher,” he wrote, adding that more physical evidence had been discovered since the deal. “Had these additional statements and evidence been known, the outcome may have been different,” he said in the letter. “But they were not known to us at the time.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/get ... ec9ed2b3e1
by seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:34 pm
by stillrobertpaulsen » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:45 pm
SonicG » Thu Feb 16, 2017 8:11 pm wrote:Trump names Alexander Acosta as new pick for labor secretary
...
Acosta may also face questions about a high-profile case he oversaw as a U.S. attorney in South Florida. In 2008, federal prosecutors negotiated what some critics categorized as a sweetheart plea deal for a billionaire hedge fund manager accused of having sex with underage girls.
Jeffrey Epstein avoided federal charges and served 13 months in county jail after he pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution, an outcome that was highly criticized by the alleged victims. Years later, according to a 2011 letter posted online by the Daily Beast, Acosta said the prosecution faced a “year-long assault” from the defense team. “Some may feel that the prosecution should have been tougher,” he wrote, adding that more physical evidence had been discovered since the deal. “Had these additional statements and evidence been known, the outcome may have been different,” he said in the letter. “But they were not known to us at the time.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/get ... ec9ed2b3e1
Over-under on "may face questions"?
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