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Pres. Trump's troubled relationship with spy agencies takes another dive with whistleblower
 [Washington Examiner] The rift between President Trump and the nation’s spy agencies opened before he took office, when he compared the intelligence community with Nazis. Since then, he has clashed publicly with his own spy chiefs, shared classified material with Russian visitors to the Oval Office, and tweeted out a surveillance photograph from his security briefing.That strained relationship faces its biggest test now, according to insiders, after a whistleblower accused the president of abusing his position to ask a foreign leader to help with his reelection. Well he is the President, or do you deny that as well ? And it leaves Gina Haspel, the director of the CIA, to rebuild relationships damaged on both sides, according to Fred Fleitz, former National Security Council chief of staff. The "rebuilding" schedule isn't particularly ahead of schedule is it Mr. Fleitz? And where might Director Haspel been these days ? "I don’t know whether she’ll be speaking out, but I think she’ll be doing her best to reassure the president about the intelligence that he gets and to reassure the professionals at Langley that the president appreciates what they are doing and we can move past this incident," he said. Haspel "speaking out"....? Not unless John Brennan instructs her to do so. Both sides blame the other for the dysfunction. Trump allies say the trouble began with the intelligence community’s distrust of the Republican nominee in 2016. Harry Reid, the then-minority Senate leader, implored officials delivering classified briefings not to divulge secrets after Trump encouraged Russian hackers to hunt down Hillary Clinton’s missing emails. Which was clearly a campaign event joke Then days before his inauguration, intelligence agencies revealed they believed that Russia ran an influence campaign to help Trump triumph over Clinton ‐ a conclusion interpreted by the president as an attempt to undermine his victory. "Concluded by the president"... and nearly anyone else with a functioning brain. Kevin Carroll, who served as a CIA case officer, said, "It’s a very troubled relationship. Trump got it off to a terrible start with comments during the transition, comparing the intelligence community to the Nazis, and then his buffoonery in front of the memorial wall the day after he was inaugurated." "It's a troubled relationship"... and that's precisely where the Klingon's wish it to remain. On his first full day in office, President Trump gave a speech at CIA headquarters. He stood on hallowed ground in front of a memorial to fallen agents where he launched an angry attack on the media and boasted about the size of his inaugural crowd. It set the stage for a series of bitter public clashes, including an ongoing feud with Barack Obama-era CIA Director John Brennan. Posted by: Besoeker 2019-10-07 |
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