The Chinese Communist Party suppressed data about the coronavirus in Wuhan with devastating consequences for the US and the world. WHO didn't help. But since when did the US rely on communists or the UN to gather accurate intelligence about threats to our national security? 1/
We spend $60 billion + on our national intelligence and another $20 billion plus on military intel. dni.gov/index.php/news… & defense.gov/Newsroom/Relea… 2/
Shouldn't we, therefore, rely on our own Intelligence Community for gathering data about national security threats? 3/
Did Reagan rely on the KGB for data about Chernobyl? 4/
Did Kennedy rely on Khrushchev for accurate intel about Soviet missiles in Cuba? 5/
Did Obama rely on Putin or the Russian intelligence for accurate information about Iranian nuclear programs? That I can answer for sure -- no. 6/
Do we trust the Russians to tell us accurate information about their weapons, disinformation operations, or covert operations inside our country? No. 7/
When I was in the government (2009-2014), I don't remember the Obama administration relying on the Chinese Communist Party for accurate data on anything related to our national security. Why is Trump? 8/
I look forward to seeing the full declassified picture of what our Intelligence Community (IC) was telling Trump about this national security threat in real time. Im sure the IC wasn't just waiting for the Chinese Communist Party officials to tell the truth. 9/
Preliminary reports already in the press make clear that Trump and his team knew way more, much earlier about this national security threat than they are saying now. nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/… 10/
And with the SAME public data from Wuhan, Chinese deception & all, different U.S. counties & governors behaved very differently. Different countries behaved very differently. All of this variation cannot be attributed to a single variable - Chinese Communist Party deception. 11/
The Chinese Communist Party (not the Chinese people, who also suffered from CCP policies) must be held accountable. An international investigation is needed. But those who responded poorly to COVID19, especially when other politicians responded better, also deserve scrutiny. 12
Where does the buck stop in the Trump administration? Anywhere? 13/. END THREAD
