Thread by @SeekerOTL

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A SPY FOR ALL SEASONS

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As many are aware, Donald Trump announced his foreign policy team, which included George Papadopolous, on March 20, 2016.

Previously, PapaD had been a part of Dr Ben Carson’s foreign policy team.

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Carson announced his team 3 months prior to Trump’s announcement.

Why did Carson name his foreign policy team so much sooner?

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To answer that question, let’s go back to November 4, 2015.

Quinnipiac released a poll that showed Carson and Trump in a virtual tie for 1st place.

poll.qu.edu/national/relea…

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However, Carson’s campaign was about to suffer a setback from which it would never recover.

On Nov 17, 2015, an article appeared in the New York Times that seriously damaged Carson’s credibility on foreign policy issues.

nytimes.com/2015/11/18/us/…

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Carson’s advisor on terrorism and national security, Duane Clarridge, told the Times that “Nobody has been able to sit down with him and have him get one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East…”

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Furthermore, Clarridge claimed Carson required weekly briefings to “make him smart.”

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Duane “Dewey” Clarridge is quite a character. He was a long time CIA operative with postings in India, Turkey and station chief in ROME.

havokjournal.com/culture/duane-…

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Most famously (or infamously) was his tenure as Chief of the CIA’s Latin America Division. He was responsible for arming and training the Nicaraguan “Contras” -- the rebels fighting the Communist government -- in the early 80’s.

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He ran into trouble when he continued to fund the Contras when it was illegal to do so.

Clarridge was charged with seven counts of perjury and given false statement in 1991.

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During his last days in office, George H W Bush pardoned Clarridge and 6 others charged in the Iran-Contra scandal.

archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.co…

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After Clarridge left the CIA, he started his own private network to gather intelligence in Afghanistan.

esquire.com/news-politics/…

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In 2013, Clarridge contacted Carson and offered to help prepare him for debates, free of charge. 🤨

This gesture raises the obvious question if Clarridge volunteered for the purpose of sabotaging the Carson campaign

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Clarridge was certainly capable of such intrigue. He was also quite comfortable with the GOP establishment.

Clarridge was born into an old Yankee Republican family. (For those unaware of what qualifies someone as a “Yankee.”)
nytimes.com/2006/11/27/wor…

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He possessed an Ivy League education.

His father believed working west of the Appalachians was to admit defeat .

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That detail I learned from reading Clarride’s autobiography, “A Spy for All Seasons: My Life in the CIA.”

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The book gives some interesting insights into CIA spycraft.

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Now, if Clarridge was attempting to derail the Carson campaign, it was certainly a GOPe operation.

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It has come to my attention that not everyone fully understands the “Pied Piper strategy.”

The goal of that strategy was actually to HELP the outsider GOP candidates. The DNC didn’t want to harm the Carson campaign.

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Adding further suspicion of a GOPe hitjob was Michael Hayden’s lukewarm defense of Ben Carson on MSNBC.

freebeacon.com/national-secur…

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Also, notice this is a Washington Free Beacon article.

The WFB was, at that time in 2015, employing Fusion GPS to conduct oppo research on GOP outsider candidates.

nytimes.com/2017/10/27/us/…

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In attempt to limit the damage to his campaign, Carson announced a foreign policy team in November 2015.

thehill.com/blogs/ballot-b…

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Carson’s team was neocon heavy.

This may explain why Papadopolous was selected to join the team.

PapaD was recommended by the president of the Hudson Institute.

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It’s important to know why PapaD was selected to the Carson team because every bio of him included in stories about his selection for the Trump campaign list his primary accomplishment as a former advisor to Ben Carson.

Usually listed second is his position at LCILP.

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Both positions he obtained within 3 months of his selection to the Trump campaign.

How was PapaD so fortunate to gain these two resume-padders at the opportune time?

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It could be a case of the PapaD simply being aggressive and ambitious. There’s no denying he possesses both qualities in abundance.

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Also, it’s by no means certain that Clarridge attempted to undermine Carson.

It’s clear from reading his book, Clarridge wasn’t afraid to express his opinion. (I use the past tense because Clarridge died in April 2016.)

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His book was written 20 years ago and there’s no reason to believe he became more discreet in his 80’s.

Also, let’s be honest, Ben Carson isn’t exactly Henry Kissinger. His knowledge of foreign policy is limited.

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The GOPe knew Foreign policy was Carson’s weak spot. Did they target that weak spot to eliminate him?

Was there an effort made to plant Papadopolous into the outsider campaigns? Or is everything as it appears on the surface?

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btw, did I mention that Clarridge was CIA station in Rome once?

I might have something on that later. 😉

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Give Clarridge points for honesty.

However, if our IC community is this arrogant and self-righteous about effecting regime change in foreign countries, what makes anyone believe they wouldn't do the same in the US....in the 'national interest'?

#RegimeChangeDeluxe