- Anyone else skeptical – you read it here first
Trump Gives Barr Authority to Declassify Information About Russia Probe’s Origins
The order comes as Trump tells his own team not to comply with multiple probes focused on him
“Mr. Barr in his review is working closely with Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director Chris Wray. Mr. Trump’s memorandum directs Mr. Barr to consult with the head of the originating intelligence agency before declassifying material, but only “to the extent he deems it practicable,” effectively giving Mr. Barr the power to overrule any intelligence agencies’ concerns.”
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Is This The “Game Changer”?
Don’t Get Your Hopes Up…
Conservatives and Trump Supporters Have Seen Too Many ‘Game Changers’…But the Game Never Changes.
The above comment is excerpted from the Wall Street Journal’s Page 4 story about President Trump’s ‘Declassification’ Order. We noted that the placement and prominence given this story seems to suggest that Mr. Trump’s action is of no great consequence in getting to the bottom of some very serious questions, especially as they might relate to very serious criminal actions on the part of members of the Obama administration.
But the reason we highlight the excerpted comment is that it seems very significant to us. When the story notes that while General Barr has been authorized to declassify, he is expected to “consult” with the heads of the nation’s top law enforcement and national security agencies.
To that, we say “good luck, Mr. Barr”! (read more below)
We suggest that these three folks, Coats, Haspel, and Wray are anything but reliable administration supporters. To expect that they will give Barr full cooperation to declassify documents that might reflect very negatively on the integrity and competence of their own respective agencies seems quite a stretch to us. Especially given that , at least, the FBI has aggressively resisted turning over documents requested by congressional committees which would have answered many of the questions the Attorney General is asking.
Further, it must be noted that Ms. Haspel is a long-serving employee of her agency, the CIA. While that’s all good, we recall that John Brennan, the former CIA Director and one who is thought to have been very much involved in the alleged attempt to undermine President Trump and his administration strongly endorsed Haspel’s nomination to head the agency as his successor! (It is also thought by many that the CIA is heavily staffed with and influenced by “deep state” operatives…that is, some of its ‘long-serving employees’.)
As to NSA Head, Dan Coats, it’s been reported that he had to be talked out of resigning by VP Pence, due to clashes with Trump over various issues…leaks from Coats’ agency, the director’s failure to investigate allegations that Trump was wiretapped by Obama, and disagreement over NATO as Trump sought to urge its members to meet their obligations.
And, finally, perhaps most significant to us, is that these three, in issuing their “Annual Global Threat Assessment” to Congress last January, seemed to go out of their way to publicly repudiate some of President Trump’s major policy goals. (The Washington Times – Tuesday, January 29, 2019)
Among them were assessments which clashed with some of Trump’s own, such as North Korea’s likelihood of eventually giving up their nuclear capability, at the time the president was preparing for a second summit with Kim Jong Un; the strength of ISIS, as the president ordered a withdrawal of US troops in Syria; and the Iran agreement to which the CIA’s Haspel said the intelligence agencies “believed Teheran had not violated the ‘letter’ of the 2015 ‘deal’.
Most important to us, however, was that the “assessment” of national security threats devoted no attention to the crisis on America’s southern border at the very time that Trump was considering declaring a “National Emergency”!
Needless to say, the Democrats hailed the report and the media celebrated its public repudiation of the President.
And its these three who AG Barr will “consult” on the release of those documents!?
DLH
