Wall Street journal:
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.If the president of the United States isn't "good enough" to hear intelligence information, even minutiae, then who is? A bureaucrat who believes they are above the president needs to be fired.
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.
That said, it does seem reasonable the "how they get information" doesn't necessarily need to be revealed unless asked. Do you tell your boss all the details on how you get your job done every day?
Speaking of intelligence...
Newsweek:
As part of intelligence operations being conducted against the United States for the last seven months, at least one Western European ally intercepted a series of communications before the inauguration between advisers associated with President Donald Trump and Russian government officials, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.What is troubling here isn't the allegations about Flynn, who we knew was questionable, but rather the fact that allies are spying on us AND they are releasing this information publicly.
The sources said the interceptions include at least one contact between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and a Russian official based in the United States. It could not be confirmed whether this involved the telephone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that has led to Flynn’s resignation, or additional communications. The sources said the intercepted communications are not just limited to telephone calls: The foreign agency is also gathering electronic and human source information on Trump’s overseas business partners, at least some of whom the intelligence services now consider to be agents of their respective governments. These operations are being conducted out of concerns that Russia is seeking to manipulate its relationships with Trump administration officials as part of a long-term plan to destabilize the NATO alliance.
Mind you, I am not naive enough to think our allies don't spy on us. I know they do. But it is surprising when they release the information they have obtained publicly. Why would they do so, unless there is something to be gained from it?
I offer you this speculation: Intelligence operations around the world are far too cozy with the global elites. Government bureaucrats, such as intelligence operatives, have a rational self-interested motive in "big government", and global elites have been centralizing more power within the democratic governments over the past few decades. So when a threat like Trump comes along to the status quo, they must be taken down by any means possible. Again, this is only my speculation, but it does explain a lot.
In other Trump news...
The Moscow Times:
The Kremlin had high hopes for U.S. President Donald Trump. He had praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, proposed tag-teaming with Moscow in Syria and even hinted he might recognize Crimea as part of Russia.If Trump is just a shill for Russia, why would he do this? Or is the "Russian shill" story just so much garbage from the Left-leaning mainstream media to try and discredit the new president?
Then, on Feb. 14, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer shattered the Kremlin’s American dream.
“President Trump has made it very clear that he expects the Russian government to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine and return Crimea,” Spicer told reporters at a daily press conference.
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. The West, in turn, responded by imposing international sanctions on Moscow. Trump appeared to be Russia’s best bet for getting those sanctions lifted.
Naturally, Spicer’s words provoked anger among the Russian authorities. It didn’t help that the Crimea statement came right after Trump forced National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, a Russia sympathizer, to resign for withholding information about his phone conversations with the Russian ambassador.
Russia is a primary example of how the MSM gets Trump wrong. They spend too much time analyzing what he says, and not nearly enough watching what he does.
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