Sunday, January 8, 2017

The Intelligence Community versus Donald Trump

The continuing campaign to discredit President-Elect Trump is increasing in intensity.  It is based on allegations that the Russians interfered in the U.S. election.  It is suggested that Hillary Clinton would have won the election if the Russians had not interfered.  The establishment media echo accounts by the administration's anonymous sources frequently neglecting to include the word "alleged."  In spite of their damaged credibility, they have demonstrated that they can still be influential.  In addition to anonymous sources, the media are relying on academics and retired intelligence personnel.
The New York Times has reported, "The assessment by American intelligence agencies that the Russian government stole and leaked Clinton campaign emails has been accepted across the political spectrum, with the notable exception of Mr. Trump."  Apparently, the Times searched for people who supported Trump, but they were unable to locate them.  Trump's critics are everywhere.
Critics of the president-elect have charged him with everything but being a KGB agent.  Former acting CIA director Michael Morell claims that Vladimir Putin has "cleverly recruited Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation."  Michael V. Hayden, former director of the NSA and CIA, says he prefers the term polezni durak.  "That's the useful fool, some naif, manipulated by Moscow, secretly held in contempt, but whose blind support is happily accepted and exploited."  Senator Harry Reid wrote to FBI director James Comey, "It has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisers, and the Russian government – a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity."  The New York Post quotes a CIA official: "It's pretty horrifying to me that he's siding with Assange over the intelligence agencies."

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