{"id":33490,"date":"2017-01-05T13:30:12","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T21:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=33490"},"modified":"2017-01-05T13:34:47","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T21:34:47","slug":"donald-trump-plans-to-kneecap-the-intelligence-community-playing-into-putins-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=33490","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump Plans To Kneecap The Intelligence Community – Playing Into Putin’s Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"

For several months Donald Trump has bitterly criticized the United States intelligence agencies. He has accused them of politicizing intelligence data and making critical errors in analysis and reporting. His public statements give more credence to Russia’s dictator, Vladimir Putin, and WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, than to the agencies on which he must rely as president. That has raised questions as to his loyalties from politicians and pundits across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n

\"Trump\/Putin\"
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On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal published<\/a><\/strong> a story detailing Trump’s plans to revamp the CIA and other intel ops. The article relied on sources close to the Trump transition team who revealed Trump’s desire to “restructure and pare back”<\/em> these agencies. One of the insiders quoted said that:<\/p>\n

“The view from the Trump team is the intelligence world has become completely politicized. They all need to be slimmed down. The focus will be on restructuring the agencies and how they interact.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Among those who would eagerly support slimmed down intelligence bureaus is Trump’s BFF, Vladimir Putin. Along with every other nation hostile to American interests. By weakening our intelligence capabilities, our adversaries would gain the upper hand in clandestine activities and diplomacy. However, Trump’s motivation isn’t as simple as siding with our enemies. He is hypersensitive to allegations that his electoral victory was illegitimate. Consequently, any assertion that Russia’s involvement benefited him grates against his ego and must be suppressed. According to the Journal, that’s a view shared by Trump’s team:<\/p>\n

“Among those helping lead Mr. Trump\u2019s plan to revamp the intelligence agencies is his national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn [and] Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.), whom Mr. Trump selected as CIA director. […] Gen. Flynn and Mr. Pompeo share Mr. Trump\u2019s view that the intelligence community\u2019s position – that Russia tried to help his campaign – is an attempt to undermine his victory or say he didn\u2019t win, the official close to the transition said.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Journal also quoted Paul Pillar, a 28-year veteran of the CIA, who said that he finds it \u201cdisturbing that the president should come in with this negative view of the agencies.”<\/em> Another former CIA operative, Evan McMullin, expressed similar concerns. He tweeted that<\/a><\/strong> “Trump’s overhaul of CIA is a reprisal for its alerting Americans of Russian interference in the election and its valid concerns about Trump.”<\/em> And that<\/a><\/strong> “In addition to attacking the press, there is no more typical authoritarian tactic than consolidating power in the intel & armed services.”<\/em> That observation should send shivers down the spine of every American. Remember that Putin himself was a KGB operative prior to becoming Russia’s dictator.<\/p>\n

As for Trump, he had his own Twitter statement on the subject early Thursday morning:<\/p>\n

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The dishonest media likes saying that I am in Agreement with Julian Assange – wrong. I simply state what he states, it is for the people….<\/p>\n

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n