CIA extracts top Kremlin spy

[jarnon]

CNN Exclusive: The US extracted one of its top spies from Russia in 2017, worried about exposure and Trump’s handling of intelligence:

Exclusive: US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017

Follow-up:

New tonight: Given NYT has now made details on Russian spy public, I can now report additional info we had withheld. Asset had direct access to Vladimir Putin, including the remarkable ability to take photos of presidential documents, and had served US for more than a decade.

Asset had risen to the highest levels of Russia’s national security infrastructure. US offered extraction months earlier during Obama administration, but asset refused. Asset’s information was crucial to IC assessment that Putin had directed election interference to favor Trump

This is based on Trump and Obama administration ofcials with direct knowledge.

[jarnon]

Kremlin says reported U.S. spy in Russian president's office was fired years ago

That's as close to an admission as the Kremlin ever makes.

[Bob78164]

I don't understand how this is not a thing. In a world where we were deluged about e-mails, how is a story about having to pull our top Russian asset because we couldn't trust Donny to adequately protect his or her identity anything but front-page news? --Bob

[jarnon]

I don't understand how this is not a thing. In a world where we were deluged about e-mails, how is a story about having to pull our top Russian asset because we couldn't trust Donny to adequately protect his or her identity anything but front-page news? --Bob

IMHO the news made too big a deal of it, endangering the Russian or maybe other spies.

The House Intelligence Committee will look into it - behind closed doors.

[Bob78164]

I don't understand how this is not a thing. In a world where we were deluged about e-mails, how is a story about having to pull our top Russian asset because we couldn't trust Donny to adequately protect his or her identity anything but front-page news? --Bob

IMHO the news made too big a deal of it, endangering the Russian or maybe other spies.

The House Intelligence Committee will look into it - behind closed doors.

I don't understand how the stories endangered other spies. The stories emphasized that they were withholding information, including the spy's name (he or she is openly living under his or her real name), for that purpose. And I really think this is something that needs to be aired in public. --Bob

[jarnon]

I don't understand how this is not a thing. In a world where we were deluged about e-mails, how is a story about having to pull our top Russian asset because we couldn't trust Donny to adequately protect his or her identity anything but front-page news? --Bob

IMHO the news made too big a deal of it, endangering the Russian or maybe other spies.

The House Intelligence Committee will look into it - behind closed doors.

I don't understand how the stories endangered other spies. The stories emphasized that they were withholding information, including the spy's name (he or she is openly living under his or her real name), for that purpose. And I really think this is something that needs to be aired in public. --Bob

Look at the original post. CNN withheld some details, then the Times printed them so CNN reported them too. This has been continuing all day today as competition between news outlets trumps privacy.

That's why I said Reality Winner should spend some time in jail, even though I admire her courage and agree that her revelations about Russia were important. She also exposed our intelligence community's capabilities.

[flockofseagulls104]

Anyone want to correct their batphone story? Anyone? Bueller?


[crickets]

[tlynn78]

Anyone want to correct their batphone story? Anyone? Bueller?


[crickets]

LOL - as if!

[Bob78164]

Anyone want to correct their batphone story? Anyone? Bueller?


[crickets]

LOL - as if!

What do you think there is to correct? The story is that the intelligence community was so worried that Donny would burn one of our most valuable undercover sources in Moscow that they extracted him.

Your usual answer to this sort of thing is that because Donny works in the Oval Office, he has the legal authority to declassify pretty much anything, presumably including the identities of our undercover sources. For me (and I think for most voters), that just won't cut it. --Bob

[flockofseagulls104]

Anyone want to correct their batphone story? Anyone? Bueller?


[crickets]

LOL - as if!

What do you think there is to correct? The story is that the intelligence community was so worried that Donny would burn one of our most valuable undercover sources in Moscow that they extracted him.

Your usual answer to this sort of thing is that because Donny works in the Oval Office, he has the legal authority to declassify pretty much anything, presumably including the identities of our undercover sources. For me (and I think for most voters), that just won't cut it. --Bob

I think you might have missed a few points that may not have been eagerly reported by your 'news' sources. Look deeper.

[jarnon]

The House Intelligence Committee will look into it - behind closed doors.

The Committee has a full agenda.

Chairman Schiff Issues Subpoena for Whistleblower Complaint Being Unlawfully Withheld by Acting DNI from Intelligence Committees

This whistleblower is handling the issue properly. Schiff (and if necessary the courts) won’t let it get swept under the rug.

[flockofseagulls104]

Anyone want to correct their batphone story? Anyone? Bueller?


[crickets]

LOL - as if!

What do you think there is to correct? The story is that the intelligence community was so worried that Donny would burn one of our most valuable undercover sources in Moscow that they extracted him.

Your usual answer to this sort of thing is that because Donny works in the Oval Office, he has the legal authority to declassify pretty much anything, presumably including the identities of our undercover sources. For me (and I think for most voters), that just won't cut it. --Bob

Yes, that is the story. That's as far as you are willing to go. Let other partisans approved by the democrat party press analyse it for you and go with it hook, line and sinker.

[jarnon]

Here’s what the Washington Post thinks is going on (copying to avoid firewall issues):

Whistleblower complaint about President Trump involves Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter

A whistleblower complaint about President Trump made by an intelligence official centers on Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter, which has set off a struggle between Congress and the executive branch.

The complaint involved communications with a foreign leader and a “promise” that Trump made, which was so alarming that a U.S. intelligence official who had worked at the White House went to the inspector general of the intelligence community, two former U.S. officials said.

Two and a half weeks before the complaint was filed, Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian and political newcomer who was elected in a landslide in May.

That call is already under investigation by House Democrats who are examining whether Trump and his attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani sought to manipulate the Ukrainian government into helping Trump’s reelection campaign. Lawmakers have demanded a full transcript and a list of participants on the call.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment.

The Democrats’ investigation was launched earlier this month, before revelations that an intelligence official had lodged a complaint with the inspector general. The Washington Post first reported on Wednesday that the complaint had to do with a “promise” that Trump made when communicating with a foreign leader.

On Thursday, the inspector general testified behind closed doors to members of the House Intelligence Committee about the whistleblower’s complaint.

Over the course of three hours, Michael Atkinson repeatedly declined to discuss with members the content of the complaint, saying he was not authorized to do so.

He and the members spent much of their time discussing the process Atkinson followed, the statute governing his investigation of the complaint and the nature of an “urgent concern” that he believed it represented, according to a person familiar with the briefing, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“He was being excruciatingly careful about the language he used,” the person said.

Atkinson made clear that he disagreed with a lawyer for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who had contradicted the inspector general and found that the whistleblower complaint did not meet the statutory definition of an urgent concern because it involved a matter not under the DNI’s jurisdiction.

Atkinson told lawmakers that he disagreed with that analysis — meaning he felt the matter was under the DNI’s purview — and also that it was urgent “in the common understanding of the word,” the person said.

Atkinson told the committee that the complaint did not stem from just one conversation, according to two people familiar with his testimony.

Following the meeting, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the committee, warned of legal action if intelligence officials did not share the whistleblower complaint.

Schiff described acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire’s refusal to share the complaint with Congress as “unprecedented” and said he understood the Justice Department was involved in that decision.

“We cannot get an answer to the question about whether the White House is also involved in preventing this information from coming to Congress,” Schiff said, adding: “We’re determined to do everything we can to determine what this urgent concern is to make sure that the national security is protected.”

Someone, Schiff said, “is trying to manipulate the system to keep information about an urgent matter from the Congress … There certainly are a lot of indications that it was someone at a higher pay grade than the director of national intelligence.”

Trump has denied doing anything improper. In a tweet Thursday morning, the president wrote, “Virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there may be many people listening from various U.S. agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself.

“Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially ‘heavily populated’ call,” Trump wrote.

In a Sept. 17 letter to intelligence committee leaders, Atkinson wrote that he and Maguire “are at an impasse” over how the whistleblower could contact the congressional committees. Ordinarily, a matter of urgent concern that the inspector general deems credible is supposed to be forwarded to the intelligence oversight panels in the House and Senate.

But Maguire prevented Atkinson from doing so, according to correspondence that has been made public. Atkinson wrote that he had requested permission from Maguire to inform the congressional intelligence committees about the general subject matter of the complaint, but was denied.

Maguire, Atkinson wrote, had consulted with the Justice Department, which determined that the law didn’t require disclosing the complaint to the committee because it didn’t involve a member of the intelligence community or “an intelligence activity under the DNI’s supervision.”

Atkinson faulted the Justice Department’s conclusion “particularly … and the Acting DNI’s apparent agreement with the conclusion, that the disclosure in this case does not concern an intelligence activity within the DNI’s authority.”

Maguire is scheduled to testify before the Intelligence Committee in a public session next Thursday.

In letters to the White House and State Department, top Democrats earlier this month demanded records related to what they say are Trump and Giuliani’s efforts “to coerce the Ukrainian government into pursuing two politically-motivated investigations under the guise of anti-corruption activity” — one to help Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who is in prison for illegal lobbying and financial fraud, and a second to target the son of former vice president Joe Biden, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Trump.

“As the 2020 election draws closer, President Trump and his personal attorney appear to have increased pressure on the Ukrainian government and its justice system in service of President Trump’s reelection campaign, and the White House and the State Department may be abetting this scheme,” the chairmen of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees wrote, citing media reports that Trump had threatened to withhold $250 million in aid to help Ukraine in its ongoing struggle against Russian-backed separatists.

Lawmakers also became aware in August that the Trump administration may be trying to stop the aid from reaching Ukraine, according to a congressional official.

Giuliani dismissed the reports of the whistle blower and Trump’s “promise” to a foreign leader.

“I’m not even aware of the fact that he had such a phone call,” Giuliani said Thursday. “If I’m not worried about it, he’s not worried about it.”

House Democrats are looking into whether Giuliani traveled to Ukraine to pressure that government outside of formal diplomatic channels to effectively help the Trump reelection effort by investigating Hunter Biden about his time on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company.

The filing of the whistleblower complaint has led to what veterans of U.S. spy agencies described as an unprecedented situation with potentially grave consequences for the already troubled relationship between the president and the nation’s powerful intelligence community.

It remains unclear how the whistleblower gained access to details of the president’s calls — whether through “readouts” generated by White House aides or through other means.

Memos that serve as transcripts of such calls are created routinely. But if that is the source in this instance, it would appear to mean that White House aides made a formal record of comments by the president later deemed deeply troubling by the intelligence community’s chief watchdog.

Meanwhile Giuliani gets into one of his usual shouting matches. He hasn’t been on TV much lately. Trump would be wise to keep him off.

[jarnon]

The House and Senate (to their credit) unanimously demanded the whistleblower complaint, and Trump (to his credit) turned it over and also released it.

https://intelligence.house.gov/uploaded ... nclass.pdf

The style of putting classified content in an addendum, so the body of the memo is unclassified, is common.

Pay attention to the underlined sentence on page 3, which would jump out even if it wasn't underlined. It's a quote from the Ukrainian government right after Trump's phone call. It says that Zelensky got the impression that U.S. cooperation depended on their help investigating corruption cases. We now know that those cases included Clinton and the Bidens. The cooperation that Ukraine was looking for included military aid and an invitation to Washington. Despite what the White House is saying now, that's the message that Zelensky heard.

[tlynn78]

The House and Senate (to their credit) unanimously demanded the whistleblower complaint, and Trump (to his credit) turned it over and also released it.

https://intelligence.house.gov/uploaded ... nclass.pdf

The style of putting classified content in an addendum, so the body of the memo is unclassified, is common.

Pay attention to the underlined sentence on page 3, which would jump out even if it wasn't underlined. It's a quote from the Ukrainian government right after Trump's phone call. It says that Zelensky got the impression that U.S. cooperation depended on their help investigating corruption cases. We now know that those cases included Clinton and the Bidens. The cooperation that Ukraine was looking for included military aid and an invitation to Washington. Despite what the White House is saying now, that's the message that Zelensky heard.

And does what Zelensky actually says matter?

[Bob Juch]

The House and Senate (to their credit) unanimously demanded the whistleblower complaint, and Trump (to his credit) turned it over and also released it.

https://intelligence.house.gov/uploaded ... nclass.pdf

The style of putting classified content in an addendum, so the body of the memo is unclassified, is common.

Pay attention to the underlined sentence on page 3, which would jump out even if it wasn't underlined. It's a quote from the Ukrainian government right after Trump's phone call. It says that Zelensky got the impression that U.S. cooperation depended on their help investigating corruption cases. We now know that those cases included Clinton and the Bidens. The cooperation that Ukraine was looking for included military aid and an invitation to Washington. Despite what the White House is saying now, that's the message that Zelensky heard.

The most damning thing is that the recording and transcript of the call were moved to a restricted server that's supposed to be used for national security purposes. What needed to be hidden?

[jarnon]

From the classified appendix:

According to multiple White House officials I spoke with, the transcript of the President’s call with president Zelenskyy was placed into a computer system managed directly by the National Security Council (NSC) Directorate for Intelligence Programs. This is a standalone computer system reserved for codeword-level intelligence information, such as covert action. According to the information I received from White House officials, some officials voiced concerns internally that this would be an abuse of the system and was not consistent with the responsibilities of the Directorate for Intelligence Programs. According to White House officials I spoke with, this was “not the first time” under this Administration that a Presidential transcript was placed into this codeword-level system solely for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive — rather than national security sensitive — information.

This got reporters scrambling to find what other transcripts are hidden there. Putin? Saudi Arabia? Here's what the Washington Post came up with:

President Trump told two senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election because the United States did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed White House officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people, according to three former officials with knowledge of the matter.

The comments, which have not been previously reported, were part of a now-infamous meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a source of intelligence on the Islamic State. He also said during the meeting that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the previous day had relieved “great pressure” on him.

A memorandum summarizing the meeting was limited to all but a few officials with the highest security clearances in an attempt to keep the president’s comments from being disclosed publicly, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

I wonder what Trump said to the Saudis. He’s unconcerned when they butcher a journalist because he wrote fake news?

[Bob78164]

From the classified appendix:

According to multiple White House officials I spoke with, the transcript of the President’s call with president Zelenskyy was placed into a computer system managed directly by the National Security Council (NSC) Directorate for Intelligence Programs. This is a standalone computer system reserved for codeword-level intelligence information, such as covert action. According to the information I received from White House officials, some officials voiced concerns internally that this would be an abuse of the system and was not consistent with the responsibilities of the Directorate for Intelligence Programs. According to White House officials I spoke with, this was “not the first time” under this Administration that a Presidential transcript was placed into this codeword-level system solely for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive — rather than national security sensitive — information.

This got reporters scrambling to find what other transcripts are hidden there. Putin? Saudi Arabia? Here's what the Washington Post came up with:

President Trump told two senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election because the United States did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed White House officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people, according to three former officials with knowledge of the matter.

The comments, which have not been previously reported, were part of a now-infamous meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a source of intelligence on the Islamic State. He also said during the meeting that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the previous day had relieved “great pressure” on him.

A memorandum summarizing the meeting was limited to all but a few officials with the highest security clearances in an attempt to keep the president’s comments from being disclosed publicly, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

I wonder what Trump said to the Saudis. He’s unconcerned when they butcher a journalist because he wrote fake news?

Donny's abuses are likely to have long-term consequences. The natural legislative response to misuse of the classification process it to place limits on the executive's ability to classify information. Which will open up a whole new can of worms. --Bob

[Bob Juch]

From the classified appendix:

According to multiple White House officials I spoke with, the transcript of the President’s call with president Zelenskyy was placed into a computer system managed directly by the National Security Council (NSC) Directorate for Intelligence Programs. This is a standalone computer system reserved for codeword-level intelligence information, such as covert action. According to the information I received from White House officials, some officials voiced concerns internally that this would be an abuse of the system and was not consistent with the responsibilities of the Directorate for Intelligence Programs. According to White House officials I spoke with, this was “not the first time” under this Administration that a Presidential transcript was placed into this codeword-level system solely for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive — rather than national security sensitive — information.

This got reporters scrambling to find what other transcripts are hidden there. Putin? Saudi Arabia? Here's what the Washington Post came up with:

President Trump told two senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election because the United States did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed White House officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people, according to three former officials with knowledge of the matter.

The comments, which have not been previously reported, were part of a now-infamous meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a source of intelligence on the Islamic State. He also said during the meeting that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the previous day had relieved “great pressure” on him.

A memorandum summarizing the meeting was limited to all but a few officials with the highest security clearances in an attempt to keep the president’s comments from being disclosed publicly, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

I wonder what Trump said to the Saudis. He’s unconcerned when they butcher a journalist because he wrote fake news?

Donny's abuses are likely to have long-term consequences. The natural legislative response to misuse of the classification process it to place limits on the executive's ability to classify information. Which will open up a whole new can of worms. --Bob

You think that would stop hm?

[silverscreenselect]

Let other partisans approved by the democrat party press analyse it for you and go with it hook, line and sinker.

Here's another partisan approved by the "democrat party press" analyzing it for us:

That conversation [with Ukrainian President Zelensky] manifested both criminal and impeachable behavior. The criminal behavior to which Trump has admitted is much more grave than anything alleged or unearthed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and much of what Mueller revealed was impeachable. By releasing it, Trump has admitted to its accuracy. In it, Trump asked Zelensky for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, who at this writing is Trump's likely Democratic opponent in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump also admits to holding up $391 million in aid to Ukraine – $250 million in the purchase of already approved and built military hardware and $141 million in a congressionally authorized grant. This is aid that Trump's own secretaries of state and defense, his own director of national intelligence and director of the CIA, and his own National Security Council unanimously asked him to release.

Trump has also admitted to accusing the as-yet publicly unnamed whistleblower of treason, and suggesting that the whistleblower and those who have helped him are spies and ought to be treated as spies were in "the old days" (Trump’s phrase) – that is, by hanging. The president’s allusions to violence are palpably dangerous. They will give cover to crazies who crave violence, as other intemperate words of his have done. His words have already produced offers of "bounties" in return for outing and finding the whistleblower. Trump also suggested that his impeachment would produce a second American Civil War. This language is a dog whistle to the deranged.

Can the president put his own needs and wants above the nation's? In a word: No. The president has taken an oath to enforce federal law, not break it. He cannot lawfully impose conditions – conditions that benefit him alone – as a prerequisite to compliance with the law. Is violating campaign finance law by involving a foreign government in an American presidential campaign an impeachable offense? Yes, it is.

The expressed intention of those who wrote the Constitution and those who wrote the campaign finance laws 200 years later – and the lesson of the post-2016 election and Mueller-investigated angst in America – was to keep foreign governments out of the American political system. For heaven's sake, Trump was just investigated by Mueller for two-and-a-half tumultuous years for allegedly bringing the Russian government into the 2016 election and now he has attempted in one phone call to bring the Ukrainian government into the 2020 election! Does he understand the laws he has sworn to uphold? It was to remedy just such reckless, constitutionally destructive behavior that impeachment was intended.

Looks like Napolitano just renewed his subscription to the batphone. Darn those liberal media sorts out to get Trump.

But there's good news in this for you, Flock. With your keen knowledge of the law and the Constitution, you could be next in line to becoming Fox's new legal analyst.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/judge-a ... x3k24Boj3M

[jarnon]

Adam Schiff has released a collection of text messages that State Dept. officials saved and turned over to his committee.

Here's an interesting one from Ambassador Kurt Volker:

Special attention should be paid to the problem of interference in the political processes of the United States, especially with the alleged involvement of some Ukrainian politicians. I want to declare that this is unacceptable. We intend to initiate and complete a transparent and unbiased investigation of all available facts and episodes, including those involving Burisma and the 2016 U.S. elections, which in turn will prevent the recurrence of this problem in the future.

It describes a Bizarro world where shady Ukrainians helped Democrats in 2016, and heroes like Rudy will prevent a repeat in 2020.