Survival at All Costs

[babylonsister]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/trump-betrayed-the-intelligence-community-and-fbi-by-releasing-the-nunes-memo.html

Survival at All Costs
By releasing the Nunes memo, Trump betrayed the intelligence community to save his own skin.

By Phillip Carter
Feb 03, 201812:56 AM

snip//

The dysfunctional process used to release the memo illustrates the toxic relationship that now exists between the White House and its own leadership at the Justice Department and intelligence community. In his cover letter transmitting the memo back to Congress for release, White House Counsel Donald McGahn first asserts executive prerogative over classified information, effectively telling Congress that only the White House has the legal power to release classified information to the public. This is an uncontroversial point, but also a self-serving one for a White House facing so much congressional investigative activity; it’s easy to see why the Trump White House would want to ensure it maintained sole authority over what classified information could be released.

McGahn then describes the standards and process used by the White House to release the Nunes/Patel memo. He writes that the “White House review process … included input from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice.” However, in the next sentence, McGahn writes, “Consistent with this review … the President has determined that declassification of the Memorandum is appropriate.” The concurrence of the intelligence community and Justice Department are conspicuously absent from this paragraph, which makes sense given the FBI’s official statement criticizing “grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.” Trump directly overruled FBI Director Christopher Wray and Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats to release the Nunes/Patel memo.

Disagreements over policy between senior officials—or between senior officials and the president—are nothing new. However, it is rare when a president’s self interest collides so directly with the considered judgment of his own hand-picked Cabinet officials or law enforcement agency heads. In this case, Wray and Coats know far more about this matter than what appeared in the Nunes/Patel memo. Based on what they know about this investigation—and the broad portfolio of American intelligence and law enforcement activity—they recommended that Trump block the release of this memo. And yet, Trump overruled them, allowing the Nunes/Patel memo to go forward and attack the FBI, undermining the investigation that moves ever closer to Trump.

Where this leads, no one knows. The Nunes/Patel memo raises enough questions that it will likely generate calls for the release of more classified material from the Russia files, or pressure to leak such material from Congress. If more information comes out, it may damage Trump, but it’s far more likely to damage ongoing investigations, or even compromise ongoing intelligence activities. Trump signaled today that he didn’t care; between the integrity of government investigations and his own political interests, he’ll choose the latter. If he’s willing to overrule his senior intelligence and law enforcement leaders over something so inconsequential and fake as the Nunes/Patel memo, it’s frightening to think what he would choose in an actual crisis, when we really need him to put America first.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. An excellent article, my dear babylonsister!

It is so very accurate.

K&R

[The Blue Flower]

2. It's well known that a drowning person will push his rescuer under to stay above water

This one will do it just for the sheer, cruel rush of destroying everyone and everything around him. In his panic, he's now thrashing around mindlessly.

[MyOwnPeace]

3. BEAUTIFUL!!!!

You NAILED it!

[Wellstone ruled]

4. My guess is,now that Patel has been outed,

he will be leaving for new opportunities. One thing we learned from staffers on the Hill,quick way to the unemployment office is,do something stupid with your name all over the Press.

In Politics,memories never fade or go away. And Patel Crapped his Pants big time,and know one wants that smell around their office.