Trump's intel pick will blow up in his face as agencies revolt and leak the truth: Ex-CIA official

[babylonsister]

Trump’s intel pick will blow up in his face as agencies revolt and leak the truth: Ex-CIA official
Written by Tom Boggioni / Raw Story February 21, 2020


Appearing on CNN on Friday morning, former CIA case officer Phil Mudd said the selection of Ambassador Richard Grennell to be the acting Director of National Intelligence will likely blow up in the president’s face because he is not respected within the intelligence community who will seek to undercut him.

Speaking with hosts John Berman and Alisyn Camerota, Mudd first mocked Grennell, saying, “I tell you, this is taking me back to when I was a child. it’s like if I played the game of Battleship, I could be the secretary of defense — the guy knows nothing about intelligence.”

He then proceeded to explain what Grenell will likely face during what expected to be his brief tenure since it is unlikely he will be sent to the Senate for confirmation to remain in the job.

“There is an upside to this if you are an intel person, I’m going to be real cynical here. If you watch what Grenell said, he said I’m not going to be around for long — meaning he doesn’t want the job,” Mudd began. “Legally he can’t stay around that long. So if you’re an intel person you’re sitting there saying ‘I’m going to slow roll it, I’m not going to pay attention to what he says.”

“There’s a challenge there when staff comes in from the White House that stays beyond Grenell, there’s a problem and there are reports of that happening,” he explained. “First they’re going to slow roll him. Second is, what’s his ability to control the message? The information he gets on Russian hacking is going to come from people who have been around for 20 or 30 years. Is he going to change it before he goes to the Hill to testify? That’s going to get out in a leak.”

“And the last thing is, how do you control the directors of the intelligence agencies, the NSA particularly and the director of the CIA who will get out there in testimony and say stuff different than what Grenell says,” he added. “The system here is going to be interesting. I think it’ll undercut the choice for DNI.”

Watch @ link~

https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/trumps-intel-pick-will-blow-up-in-his-face-as-agencies-revolt-and-leak-the-truth-ex-cia-official/?fbclid=IwAR3NMiyXkV06tgyhf5iK_-aWKv-n7q7hwq7H_OyGExwVxHPjLQvPWgpeTHA

[Thomas Hurt]

1. This dude is an apparatchik, a political officer, a spy for Trump.

smaller gov't my @##, this is totalitarian centralized gov't.

[greymattermom]

2. How can he succeed in spying on professional spies?

CIA professionals will know what to do.

[Thomas Hurt]

4. he doesn't need to be a covert spy, perhaps I should have used the word "rat" or informer

[Hangingon]

15. Very uncomfortable with this attitude.

Is it okay for an agency to rebel if the appointed head is not to their liking. Are the career employees free to run the shop with out supervision by elected executive? That is wrong even if we don’t like the executive. CI A has had this reputation since creation.

Would this be alright if Dept. of Agriculture decided to undercut the Secretary? Or Interior? Would it be okay if Democrats were in power?

[Brawndo]

31. It is always okay for Americans to work against the interests of fascists, domestic or otherwise

[Hangingon]

34. No. No one elected the employees of the CIA.

They do not get to label anyone a fascist and go rogue. Nor does any agency or department. That is anarchy.

[paleotn]

12. And like most of his apparatchiks....

hopelessly incompetent. I was thinking the other day, what would it be like if we had an IQ45 type president who was intelligent. Very intelligent. Who appointed intelligent people to posts to intelligently do his bidding. I like to point fingers and laugh at their stupidity as much as anyone, but that's probably the only thing keeping us from full on totalitarian rule in its first term.

[Marcuse]

16. Yes, he cannot tolerate anyone smarter than he is for long. Hence the turnover and incompetence.

[ElementaryPenguin]

3. This is what I've been thinking...Trump will not be able to control the narrative

These guys will run circles around the Trump appointed know-nothings!

It's different with the evil Bill Barr. He's been Attorney General before, and knows how to navigate the system.

This is going to backfire big time on the Orange Emperor!

[awesomerwb1]

5. I'm going to be even more cynical

What if most of the intelligence officers are MAGAts and want to help trump?

There is very little non-partisan loyalty these days. I hope I'm wrong but it's definitely trying times for this country.

[Turin_C3PO]

8. I don't think that's the case.

From everything I’ve read, the intelligence people hate Trump.

[awesomerwb1]

9. Not that I don't believe you

but where have you seen that? I haven't seen any articles/news etc about the intelligence community liking someone or not.

[Turin_C3PO]

10. Honestly, I don't have any links.

I’m just going from my memory of reading such stuff. I could be wrong, who knows?

[awesomerwb1]

13. Thanks

I hope you're right. I was just being cynical as I always am with anything russiapublican/dump related.

When Giuliani got his scoop about the emails there was plenty of talk about quite a few MAGAts at the local FBI office if I remember correctly.

[irisblue]

25. Here is one example.

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/29/773127809/how-the-relationship-between-trump-and-his-spy-chiefs-soured

[irisblue]

24. Here is one example

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/28/774178719/a-history-of-trumps-broken-ties-to-the-u-s-intelligence-community

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. When do these leaks begin? Before or after Putin helps the GOP coup?

[Lonestarblue]

21. Given everything that has happened, I thought the full Mueller report might be leaked.

We need all the help we can get to take kick this mobster out of office.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

22. I keep hoping.

[JustAnotherGen]

7. I would like to hope he is right

But I have no faith that they will not follow the Commander in Chief. None at all.

[pandr32]

11. Let's hope so

[BigmanPigman]

14. Grenell likes tRump and has been a "gold card holder at tRump Hotel.

I think he is a loyalist like Amb. Sondland was.

[Mme. Defarge]

26. And how did that work out for him?

Sondland.

[maxsolomon]

27. there's loyalists and there's loyalists.

sondland sobered up.

[Mike 03]

17. Really hopeful about this.

As far as the CIA, though, do we trust Gina Haspel? Isn't she sketchy?

Remember, Adam Schiff has been saying the intel agencies are hiding documents from Congress. How deep are they all in this?

EDIT: I do believe the FBI is in good hands for now.

[muntrv]

18. Please do so.

[gratuitous]

19. Agency directors will "say stuff different than what Grenell says"

In the words of Dick Cheney: So?

Grenell says one thing, an agency head says another, and the media (if they notice at all) will just homina-homina the contradiction away, and Trump will rag on and on about it at one of his little Nuremberg rallies, and Grenell will come out looking like the second coming of Wild Bill Donovan.

[shanti]

30. And I will add another of The Dick's quotes

Go Fuck yourself. Funny, but have you heard a peep from him? I sure haven't. He's keeping his head down.

[gratuitous]

32. The whole Bush II Reign of Error has largely disappeared

It's like we went directly from Clinton to Obama. Nobody knows why we have troops in Iraq or Afghanistan or why the budget surplus at the end of the Clinton administration vanished.

[NCjack]

20. Underlings destroy an ignorant boss by documenting and doing exactly the stupid

orders he gives. No feedback -- just do it. But, when he is luck and gives a "correct" instruction. For that one, they will lead him into a mine field of doubt and watch him struggle and ultimately reverse it.

[NBachers]

23. Forgive me for being skeptical; I'm not sure we can depend on this. Why hasn't it happened already?

Or, if it has happened, it still hasn't had much effect at stopping the dismantling of our nation.

[maxsolomon]

28. Feels like Grennell's basic task is to lie to Schiff.

Edit or suppress the information.

Congress is Trump DGAF about anything but what Congress is told.

[Las Vegas Mixx]

29. Trump and Republican enablers - all roads lead to Putin

Last edited Fri Feb 21, 2020, 03:01 PM - Edit history (1)

As Nancy Pelosi noted:

[gldstwmn]

33. I've been waiting 4 long years.