David Ignatius at the Washington Post reports Tuesday evening that previous months’ efforts by Donald Trump to release classified intelligence on Russia is still ongoing.
An intense battle over this issue has raged within the administration in the days before and after the Nov. 3 presidential election. Trump and his allies want the information public because they believe it would rebut claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin supported Trump in 2016. That may sound like ancient history, but for Trump it remains ground zero — the moment when his political problems began.
David Ignatius
According to Ignatius, senior military and intelligence officials are doing their best to prevent the information from getting out, trying to make Trump understand that releasing that information would expose U.S. sources and intelligence collection methods. It would also anger our allies.
CIA Director Gina Haspel argued against disclosing the information at a White House meeting last month and has feared losing her job ever since. Sources tell Ignatius that Haspel is lucky to have a bipartisan group of people supporting her, including William Barr, Mark Meadows, Robert O’Brien, and some members of Congress.
General Paul Nakasone, director at the National Security Agency, has also been vocal about not releasing the information.
Chances of Donald Trump getting his way have increased in the last 48 hours as nonpartisan Dept. of Defense officials have been replaced with Trump loyalists.
Two DOD officials were replaced earlier on Tuesday with Trump loyalists who have a history of putting Trump ahead of democracy even in the most dramatic of circumstances.
At the Pentagon, a lawyer who tried to help Trump cover up the Ukraine scandal is now the top attorney.
Mark Esper, the Defense secretary who stopped Trump and Barr from releasing the military against protesters, was also fired and replaced this week.
Last week, officials in charge of the nuclear stockpile, energy, and foreign aid were pushed out of their positions.
It’s possible Russia is in on the coup or, at the very least, watching with glee as we move closer to revealing our intelligence sources.
Not only has Russia supported Trump’s legal battle against the results of the election, but a statement from Moscow last week raises some flags.
On Thursday, two days before Donald Trump lost the election, a source in Russia’s Foreign Ministry released a statement specifically naming the Pentagon, the CIA, and the State Department.
They are still counting votes, but things continue happening, and we need to work together within the UN, in the Security Council. The government agencies must work in any case, Pentagon, CIA, the State Department.
UrduPoint
The Pentagon / DoD is already hit with personnel changes as explained above. The CIA director would be out of a job without bipartisan protectors. And the State Department shocked the world earlier today when Secretary Mike Pompeo said Donald Trump will not be leaving office.
There’s something in the air, and it smells like collusion.
Sources
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/russia-hopes-all-us-govt-agencies-to-continu-1076948.html
Photo: Public Domain
