The coronavirus pandemic, the failing economy, and Donald Trump’s attempted coup and impeachment were the big ships on the Sea Trouble. Even so, there was a vast shark lurking just beneath the surface ever ready to pull the doomed down into the darkest depths.
Analytic ombudsman and career intelligence veteran Barry Zulauf released the news that national intelligence reports quickly went political in the Trump administration. A former Director of National Intelligence (OODNI), which was a Cabinet-level job created after 9/11, Zulauf said that during the months prior to November he “identified a long story arc of—at the very least—perceived politicization of intelligence.”
The Guardian reported that Zulauf determined:
‘[Trump’s ODNI took] willful actions that… had the effect of politicizing intelligence, hindering objective analysis or injecting bias into the intelligence process.’
Zulauf continued with his startling report:
‘Ratcliffe just disagreed with the established analytic line on China, insisting ‘we are missing’ China’s influence in the US and that Chinese actions ARE intended to affect the election. Ultimately the DNI insisted on putting material on China in…. As a result, the final published [assessment], analysts felt, was an outrageous misrepresentation of their analysis.’
Russians wooed Trump “for decades” assessing that he was a potential asset. A former KGB spy working in Washington for the Russians had a reporter’s cover in the government-controlled Russian news agency TASS. He told The Guardian. “Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years:”
‘When Trump became president, the Kremlin hit the biggest intelligence jackpot imaginable. The first known payoff came in May 2017, just weeks after Trump took his oath to defend America against foreign enemies.’
Special Counsel Robert Mueller was forbidden from looking into Trump as counterintelligence. He could not investigate Moscow’s interference in the U.S.’s 2016 presidential election. Mueller told the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees in 2019 that Putin would not quit:
‘It was not a single attempt, [Russia’s] doing it as we sit here, And they expect to do it during the next campaign.’
The ombudsman’s report gave life to the distortions and lies they faced:
‘[G]etting their views on election interference across…in a confrontational environment, but does not assert that Trump directly ordered them. But as several House managers noted during the impeachment, and Trump’s better biographers have long noted, he gives direction the way mob bosses do, not by direct order but by relying on people who get from a wink and a nod or even just tone of voice what the boss wants.’
Zulauf said the investigation blatantly ignored “red flags:”
‘[W]idespread reluctance among intelligence professionals to deliver this reluctance on the part of seasoned IC [intelligence community] officers should have been a red flag but did not stop the statement from being issued.’
The report was definite about U.S. intelligence analysts who were Russian experts say:
‘Russia analysts assessed that there was clear and credible evidence of Russian election influence activities.’
Now, President Joe Biden owned the sensitive conversations between Biden and Putin, according to The POLITICO magazine. A former Trump administration official said of the Biden national security team:
‘They don’t need our approval to see those [records]. Biden owns all the call materials. There is only one president at a time.’
Schiff called out Barr’s lie:
‘That’s just a plain false statement by the attorney general, a flat-out false statement. You can tell that Bill Barr is just flat-out lying to the American people.’
Then, Schiff tweeted about Trump’s abuse of intelligence:
‘Donald Trump politicized and abused intelligence while he was in office. Donald Trump cannot be trusted with America’s secrets. Not then, and certainly not now. Americans can sleep better at night knowing he will not receive classified briefings as an ex-president. it’s tragic but it’s as simple as that.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
