“As one intelligence veteran who occasionally briefed Trump told me: “On a visceral level, his view was, ‘You all are supposed to be helping me.’ But when you’d bring in evidence that Russia interfered, that’s what he’d refer to as not helpful.” /1 nytimes.com/2020/08/08/mag…
“Or when he’s wanting to turn the screws on NATO, we’d come in with a warning of the consequences of NATO falling apart. And he’d say, ‘You never do things for me.’” /2
“The options faced by the intelligence community during Trump’s presidency have been stark: avoid infuriating the president but compromise the agencies’ ostensible independence, or assert that independence and find yourself replaced with a more sycophantic alternative.” /3
“Trump also stocked his President’s Intelligence Advisory Board with wealthy businesspeople who, when briefed by one intelligence official, “would sometimes make you uncomfortable” because on occasion, “their questions were related to their business dealings” /4
“The advisory board chairman is Stephen Feinberg of Cerberus Capital Management, which owns DynCorp, a major defense contractor that has won lucrative military contracts. Feinberg was a friend of Jared Kushner, whose expansive role created unease w/in the intel community. “ /5
“Early in the administration, Kushner and an aide showed up to Langley — conspicuous in their fitted suits — for a meeting to learn how the C.I.A. functions. The agency accommodated them, but afterward concern developed within the agency about Kushner’s potential conflicts.” /6
“His first CIA director, Mike Pompeo, aggressively worked to develop a close relationship w/Trump.
When British intelligence requested assistance in investigating the poisoning of a double agent by Russian operatives, Pompeo was initially disinclined to offer assistance.” /7
When British intelligence requested assistance in investigating the poisoning of a double agent by Russian operatives, Pompeo was initially disinclined to offer assistance.” /7
“The Trump appointee’s statement said, ‘we’re primarily concerned w/China, Russia and Iran.’
The compromise was small but hardly meaningless:it conflated the aboveboard “influence” campaign conducted by China w/ clandestine Russian interference to subvert the voting process” /8
The compromise was small but hardly meaningless:it conflated the aboveboard “influence” campaign conducted by China w/ clandestine Russian interference to subvert the voting process” /8
