kek
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/26/trump-intelligence-agency-national-security-00142968
Panic!
The prospect of a second Trump presidency has the intelligence community on edge
By ERIN BANCO and JOHN SAKELLARIADIS
02/26/2024 05:00 AM EST
Trump sought major changes at the intel agencies in his first term; former officials say he could be more radical in a second.
Former top officials from Donald Trump’s administration are warning he is likely to use a second term to overhaul the nation’s spy agencies in a way that could lead to an unprecedented level of politicization of intelligence.
Trump, who already tried to revamp intelligence agencies during his first term, is likely to re-up those plans — and push even harder to replace people perceived as hostile to his political agenda with inexperienced loyalists, according to interviews with more than a dozen people who worked in his administration.
That could empower the former president’s top subordinates to shield him from information that doesn’t conform with his politics and even change the wording of assessments with which he disagrees, many said.
America’s spy agencies are never completely divorced from politics. But an overhaul of the type Trump is expected to attempt could undermine the credibility of American intelligence at a time when the U.S. and allies are relying on it to navigate crises in Ukraine and the Middle East. It could also effectively strip the intelligence community of the ability to dissuade the president from decisions that could put the country at risk.
POLITICO talked to 18 former officials and analysts who worked in the Trump administration, including political appointees from both parties and career intelligence officers, some who still speak to the former president and his aides and had insight into conversations about his potential second term. A number of them were granted anonymity to avoid provoking backlash and to speak freely about their experience working with him. Others are now vocal Trump critics and spoke publicly.
“He wants to weaponize the intelligence community. And the fact is you need to look with a 360 degree perspective. He can’t just cherry pick what he wants to hear when there are so many U.S. adversaries and countries that don’t wish the U.S. well,” said Fiona Hill, a top Russia adviser on the National Security Council in Trump’s administration who has regularly criticized his policies. “If he guts the intel on one thing, he’ll be partially blinding us.”
Many of the former officials said they opted to speak to POLITICO because they believe the extent to which Trump could remake the intelligence community remains — despite the copious media coverage — underestimated.
Trump’s demands for “loyalty” — often read as a demand to skew findings to fit his political agenda — have not been limited to his spy agencies, but in the intelligence world, those demands carry particularly dire risks, they said.
If Trump is cavalier with his treatment of classified information or material — as alleged in a June 2023 indictment of the former president — it could endanger those who supply much-needed intelligence, said Dan Coats, who served as director of national intelligence early in Trump’s tenure.
“People’s lives could be lost,” said Coats, who became an outspoken critic of Trump after he left the administration in 2019.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2024/03/04/raskin-scotus-punted-on-trump-ballot-its-up-to-congress-to-act/
Raskin: SCOTUS ‘Punted’ on Trump Ballot — ‘It’s Up to Congress to Act’ (Panic much?)
Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said Tuesday on CNN’s “Newsroom” that the Supreme Court unanimously overturning a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that disqualified former President Donald Trump from the ballot was SCOTUS punting.
Raskin said, “The, court didn’t exactly disagree with it. They just said that they’re not the ones to figure it out. It’s not going to be a matter for judicial resolution under Section Three of the 14th Amendment, but it’s up to Congress to enforce it. I disagree with that interpretation just because the other parts of the 14th Amendment are self executing. People can go to court and say that something violates equal protection, even if there’s not a federal statute that allows them to do that. But any event, the Supreme Court punted and said, it’s up to Congress to act.”
More at https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2024/03/04/raskin-scotus-punted-on-trump-ballot-its-up-to-congress-to-act/