So what is the Deep State up

artappraiser — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 17:31:57 +0000

In reply to The intelligence community has never faced a problem quite like this

So what is the "Deep State" up to? Captain Bligh doesn't appear to realize he's not running things; my underlining:

Trump Doubles Down on Russia. The Spies Shake Their Heads.

The policy gap on Russia between the president and his administration’s intelligence and national security agencies appears to be growing wider.

By JULIAN E. BARNES, ERIC SCHMITT and KATIE BENNER 10:22 AM ET

[Julian E. Barnes and Katie Benner reported from Washington, and Eric Schmitt from Aspen, Colo. Reporting was contributed by Mark Mazzetti and Adam Goldman in Washington, Maggie Haberman in New York and David E. Sanger in Aspen.]

[....] the national security establishment appears to be following a radically different Russia policy than the commander in chief.

The Pentagon declared on Friday that it would provide $200 million in assistance to Ukraine to help fight the Russian-controlled separatists in the country’s east. “Russia should suffer consequences for its aggressive, destabilizing behavior and its illegal occupation of Ukraine,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement.

And a day earlier, the director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, pledged to offer Mr. Trump a candid assessment of the vast risks of inviting Mr. Putin to the White House.

The disconnect between the policies aimed at curbing Russia and the president’s position has never been wider, a gap that presents serious risks, current and former American officials said.

“If you are not clear about what the policy is, you are going to have an ineffective government,” said John Sipher, a 28-year veteran of the C.I.A. who served in Moscow in the 1990s and later ran the agency’s Russia program for three years. “It is worse than that. Parts of the government are working at cross-purposes to each other.”

In administration strategy documents, NATO communiqués and other official orders, Russia is called a growing threat, a potential or actual adversary intent on undermining democratic institutions of the United States and its allies. The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on Russia’s elite, and the special counsel has indicted about two dozen Russians on charges of interfering with the 2016 presidential election.

But in recent days, as Mr. Trump sustained his attacks on European allies, declared his meeting in Finland with Mr. Putin a success and signaled that he wanted a more constructive relationship with Moscow, following a policy of isolating Russia has grown more difficult, officials said. [....]

Mr. Coats said he did not know what went on in the summit meeting, and other national security officials said they were in the dark as well. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that he had spoken to the president about the meeting, but Mr. Trump has not shared his thoughts widely with the government [....]

If a president does not brief his staff, intelligence agencies have few options to learn about the meeting. Their most obvious solution — eavesdropping — is off limits when it comes to the commander in chief, even during a meeting with the leader of an adversary, according to former intelligence officers.

Still, the intelligence agencies would probably try to intercept Russian discussions of what was said in the meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin, former officials said.

The disconnect between the White House and intelligence agencies could create a thorny situation if American spies collect information that might be embarrassing to Mr. Trump — such as Russian officials saying that Mr. Putin had extracted concessions from Mr. Trump during the Helsinki meeting [....].

Mr. Trump has been at odds with most of the national security establishment since the beginning of his administration. He and his allies view members of the intelligence agencies as part of a so-called deep state opposed to his policies. [....]

Intelligence officials are growing concerned that Mr. Trump cherry-picks their findings to reinforce decisions he has already made, several administration officials said in interviews. They noted that in the case of North Korea, he picked up on evidence last summer of growing nuclear capabilities to bolster his threats of military action; now that he is pursuing a thaw in relations with North Korea, he is ignoring similar evidence.

One senior official called it a disheartening experience.

Mr. Trump appears to have ignored his intelligence agencies in setting up the meetings with Mr. Putin, said Mary McCord, who helped run the Justice Department’s national security division until she left last year. [....]

For now, there is little indication that the divide between Mr. Trump and national security officials will close. Mr. Trump shows no signs that he intends to ease off his diplomatic push or curb his criticisms of the national security establishment.

At the same time, Pentagon officials have said they will continue to oppose Moscow’s aggression in Europe, and the intelligence community and law enforcement agencies have vowed to continue to draw attention to continuing Russian attempts to interfere in American elections.

At a national security conference in Aspen, Colo., this week, the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, was asked about the president’s attacks on the bureau. He seemed to suggest that he was not paying close attention to Mr. Trump’s messaging or the chaotic atmosphere emanating from the White House.

Mr. Wray joked that he meets people who frequently say to him, “We are all praying for you.” He said that prompts him to think to himself: “I haven’t seen television in the last two hours. Is this all the other stuff, or did something new happen?”

there's another great fly on

artappraiser — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 01:07:43 +0000

In reply to The intelligence community has never faced a problem quite like this

there's another great fly on the wall attending, she just published her report:

Collective Disbelief Among Intelligence Officials

At the Aspen Security Forum, senior intelligence and law-enforcement officials stood firmly behind U.S. assessments on Russian election interference—no matter what President Trump said this week.

By NATASHA BERTRAND @ TheAtlantic.com July 20, 11:19 AM ET

dagblog - Comments for "The intelligence community has never faced a problem quite like this"

So what is the Deep State up

there's another great fly on