You just can't keep that Brennan guy down 😀

[bigtree]

Barbara Malmet @B52Malmet 3h3 hours ago
He, who would NOT be silenced, has written an amazing op ed. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/opinion/john-brennan-trump-russia-collusion-security-clearance.html

John Brennan: President Trump’s Claims of No Collusion Are Hogwash
That’s why the president revoked my security clearance: to try to silence anyone who would dare challenge him.

____Russian denials are, in a word, hogwash.

Before, during and after its now infamous meddling in our last presidential election, Russia practiced the art of shaping political events abroad through its well-honed active measures program, which employs an array of technical capabilities, information operations and old-fashioned human intelligence spycraft. Electoral politics in Western democracies presents an especially inviting target, as a variety of politicians, political parties, media outlets, think tanks and influencers are readily manipulated, wittingly and unwittingly, or even bought outright by Russian intelligence operatives. The very freedoms and liberties that liberal Western democracies cherish and that autocracies fear have been exploited by Russian intelligence services not only to collect sensitive information but also to distribute propaganda and disinformation, increasingly via the growing number of social media platforms.

Having worked closely with the F.B.I. over many years on counterintelligence investigations, I was well aware of Russia’s ability to work surreptitiously within the United States, cultivating relationships with individuals who wield actual or potential power. Like Mr. Bortnikov, these Russian operatives and agents are well trained in the art of deception. They troll political, business and cultural waters in search of gullible or unprincipled individuals who become pliant in the hands of their Russian puppet masters. Too often, those puppets are found.

In my many conversations with James Comey, the F.B.I. director, in the summer of 2016, we talked about the potential for American citizens, involved in partisan politics or not, to be pawns in Russian hands. We knew that Russian intelligence services would do all they could to achieve their objectives, which the United States intelligence community publicly assessed a few short months later were to undermine public faith in the American democratic process, harm the electability of the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, and show preference for Mr. Trump. We also publicly assessed that Mr. Putin’s intelligence services were following his orders. Director Comey and I, along with the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael Rogers, pledged that our agencies would share, as appropriate, whatever information was collected, especially considering the proven ability of Russian intelligence services to suborn United States citizens...

Mr. Trump’s claims of no collusion are, in a word, hogwash.

The only questions that remain are whether the collusion that took place constituted criminally liable conspiracy, whether obstruction of justice occurred to cover up any collusion or conspiracy, and how many members of “Trump Incorporated” attempted to defraud the government by laundering and concealing the movement of money into their pockets. A jury is about to deliberate bank and tax fraud charges against one of those people, Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman. And the campaign’s former deputy chairman, Rick Gates, has pleaded guilty to financial fraud and lying to investigators.

Mr. Trump clearly has become more desperate to protect himself and those close to him, which is why he made the politically motivated decision to revoke my security clearance in an attempt to scare into silence others who might dare to challenge him. Now more than ever, it is critically important that the special counsel, Robert Mueller, and his team of investigators be allowed to complete their work without interference — from Mr. Trump or anyone else — so that all Americans can get the answers they so rightly deserve.

read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/opinion/john-brennan-trump-russia-collusion-security-clearance.html

[malaise]

1. Get thee to the greatest page

And Lock the Con Up!

[2naSalit]

2. K&R

[karin_sj]

3. I love this guy

He is a true patriot.

[Scurrilous]

4. K&R

[dhill926]

5. K & R to infinity.....

it is game on...

[FakeNoose]

6. John Brennan is a true patriot

Thank you sir, for your service. And thanks for telling us the truth!

[jalan48]

12. I can't go that far. He was head of the CIA when it spied on a Senate panel investigating the

torture programs that took place under the the Bush/Cheney Administration.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/world/senate-intelligence-commitee-cia-interrogation-report.html

"Brennan was responding to accusations from Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and others that the CIA had secretly removed documents from committee computers and attempted to intimidate investigators by requesting an FBI inquiry of their conduct. Feinstein described the conflict as a “defining moment” for congressional oversight of spy agencies and cited concerns that the CIA had “violated the separation-of-powers principles embodied in the United States Constitution.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/world/senate-intelligence-commitee-cia-interrogation-report.html

[mountain grammy]

7. K & R

[heaven05]

8. this is great

not polls about socialism and Democrats.

[Thunderbeast]

9. Question for DU:

What do you think the relationship was between the Russian FSB operation and the early days of the tea party? Did they invent it or co-opt it?

What was their relationship to Sarah Palin, Karl Rove, and Americans for Prosperity?

I suspect this operation has been brewing for years, if not decades.

[ismnotwasm]

10. Damn

K&R

[PatSeg]

11. I must say I underestimated him in the past

I recall many on the left being very upset when Obama nominated him for CIA director, as the stench of the Bush years and torture was still in the air. He came across as very establishment and rarely outspoken.

I have to say Trump has brought the best out of many people. Richard Painter, Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson, James Clapper, Jennifer Rubin, even David Frum have been rational and reasonable. And then there are conservatives who though I disagreed with them, I thought they really would put country first, but their patriotism was as superficial as their dumb flag pins. Years of paying lip service to freedom and liberty, in the end they are devoid of any character whatsoever. Empty, useless people.

[cp]

13. K&R

Read the whole editorial. Thank you for your service to our country, Mr. Brennan!

[calimary]

14. He might be feeling all the more defiant now. Liberated to speak out

louder and more forcefully than ever. What more could trump do to him after this? Yeah, I know, thoughts of “this burdensome priest” do come up. But so far, trump’s piss-ant “punishments” have been limited to within a certain “range.”

[RealNewzFakePrez]

15. next President should award him Medal of Freedom on Day One