1. I have trouble believing it, but as someone who got the presidential daily briefing for more than 7 years the idea that a POTUS wouldn’t be briefed on a Russian bounty on US troops is even more alarming.
2. Given the hundreds of pieces of intel that would be briefed to him in this period, did the intel community think Trump wouldn’t care? That strikes at the heart of his responsibility as commander in chief.
3. Did they think he wouldn’t do anything in response or wouldn’t want to be bothered? That raises questions about whether he cares about our troops.
Did they think it would create political problems for him? That raises questions about the politicization of the intelligence community’s role.
5. Did they think he would be compromised by his affinity for Putin? That’s, well, chilling.
6. The DNI for much of this time was also the Ambassador to Germany. Trump annnounced a withdrawal of US troops from Germany. What’s up with that? That’s a gift to Putin.
7. There’s no greater purpose for our national security apparatus than protecting our troops. How could they fail this spectacularly if they kept this from the President?
8. The trump people may think they’re protecting Trump by saying he didn’t know but that’s far more damning. Who is looking out for our troops if not the Commander in Chief?
9. Also. Mitch McConnell. What does he think about all this? As he’s facilitating Russian interference in the 2020 election.
