On the January 2017 Felony Leaks
DNI Suspicions: It was the Obama WH or a SSCI Democrat
Techno Fog
14 min ago
Back on January 5, 2017, who leaked intelligence about Russia’s purported efforts to interfere in the 2016 election – and info on the Flynn-Kislyak calls – to the Washington Post?
One high level official at the Office of the Director of National had a guess:
“my bet is either the WH or SCCI Dem source on the Hill.”
Those were the words of Brian Hale, the Director of Public Affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, in response to a question of January 5, 2017 leaks to Washington Post reporters Adam Entous and Greg Miller.
James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence at the time, was copied on that email. (See below; SSCI = U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.)Background
This is the article in question, which discusses the presentation of classified documents to President Obama on January 5, 2017 and goes further than the DNI and DHS assessment that “only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized” the “cyber operations to disrupt the U.S. election.”
The U.S. officials cited by Entous and Miller went further, stating that Russia’s actions were aimed at installing Trump as President.
The Flynn/Kislyak Calls
In the last couple years we have done our part in trying to track down the source of the Flynn-Kislyak leak. If you recall, incoming National Security Advisor Lt. General Michael Flynn spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2016 on a number of issues, including UN votes, the Middle East, and Flynn’s request that Moscow only make their response to US sanctions “reciprocal.” Read the transcripts here.
It was long-thought that the initial leak of the Flynn-Kislyak call was to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. He was, after all, the author of the January 12, 2017 story which first discussed the calls and whether Flynn violated the spirit of the Logan Act.
This assumption was mistaken.
We were the first to report, however, that the initial leak of the Flynn-Kislyak call wasn’t to Ignatius. It was, instead, to Washington Post reporter Adam Entous. We were informed that these sources actually saw the Flynn-Kislyak transcripts, leaving a small pool of potential suspects.
cont
https://technofog.substack.com/p/on-the-january-2017-felony-leaks