Retired CIA officer predicts Trump and his spy chiefs will be 'outmaneuvered' by intelligence community

On the eve of a confirmation hearing for President Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, a retired CIA officer is predicting that the president and his future spy chiefs will be largely "outmaneuvered" by the intelligence community. Trump in February renominated Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe to become the next director of national intelligence after the lawmaker previously withdrew his name following criticism over his credentials. Ratcliffe is set to appear before the Senate on Tuesday for a confirmation hearing. In the meantime, Richard Grenell, who was the U.S. ambassador to Germany, is filling the role.

"I take solace in my confidence that Mr. Trump will learn, even after the Senate confirms Mr. Ratcliffe and the president replaces still more professionals with less capable political loyalists, that gagging the intelligence community will be far more difficult than hushing the Justice Department or overriding the wisdom of our medical institutions," Douglas London, who retired from the CIA in 2018, wrote in a Monday op-ed for the New York Times. London, whose last assignment was chief of counterterrorism for South and Southwest Asia, noted that despite Grenell's "parroting the president’s politicized inaccuracies" on the coronavirus pandemic, "he has also failed at breaking the intelligence community’s determination to do its job." "Try as he might, neither he nor the president can prevent a vast majority of these nonpolitical patriots from doing their jobs," he said. "What limits the damage can be better understood by contrasting the D.N.I. with the head of the Justice Department. Unlike Attorney General William Barr, neither Mr. Grenell nor Mr. Ratcliffe shares his work force’s background or training. They are, at best, novices at intelligence and lack the degree of control over their 17 agencies that Mr. Barr enjoys over the Justice Department," he continued. London went on to compliment U.S. intelligence officials, saying, "Intelligence professionals operate with significant responsibility and under intense pressure. Far too many who reach the top succumb to the temptations of political compromise and power. But a vast majority are largely immune to political pressure, or sufficiently proud and arrogant to withstand it." "The president’s current feckless, politicized use of the intelligence community could not have come at a worse time and will no doubt get worse as he grows more desperate and fearful of the coronavirus’s impact on his own fortunes," he concluded. "But President Trump, Mr. Grenell and Mr. Ratcliffe (should he be confirmed) will often be overwhelmed and outmaneuvered by the intelligence community’s independence and skill. As the president continues to learn the hard way, the community is not his personal secretariat."

Trump took heat for his renomination of Ratcliffe, who was first elected in 2014 and sits on both the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees in the House. The Texas congressman is an ardent defender of the president, which was reflected throughout the House impeachment process and in his questioning of then-special counsel Robert Mueller.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/retired-cia-officer-predicts-trump-and-his-spy-chiefs-will-be-outmaneuvered-by-intelligence-community

The Cloud Forming Over America’s Spies

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/opinion/trump-grenell-ratcliffe.html?smid=tw-share

Thinking we need to find out exactly who this guy is..what's he been up to?, what is he hiding? Who was he working with?

>>9033363

No, don't think that at all, it just working out the lib's who are trying to force their will to have it now, is not being fulfilled at this point and time it will come out when the time is right. A lot of this stuff is held back because of on going investigations in the Durham arena.

They're back: Full Senate gavels in for first time since March

The full Senate returned to Capitol Hill for the first time since lawmakers shuttered the chamber in March due to the coronavirus. “The Senate is back in session because we have important work to do for the nation,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said from the Senate floor Monday. McConnell announced the Senate would focus on nominations despite objections from Democrats who say confirming Trump administration picks for the courts and the administration is not essential business worth the health risk that may come from lawmakers returning to work in D.C. The Senate will employ social distancing and other health guidelines, such as the use of masks and spacing out lawmakers in committee rooms and avoiding crowding on the Senate floor.

“There can be no doubt that this will be one of the strangest sessions of the United States Senate in modern history,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat. The House backtracked on a plan to return this week after House Democrats protested. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, told reporters the move to reconvene is postponed until May 11.

The Senate will vote Monday at 5:30 p.m. to confirm Robert Feitel, Trump’s nominee as inspector general of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Committees will meet this week to confirm additional executive branch and judicial nominees, including Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas as the director of national intelligence. Senate Democrats are demanding lawmakers abandon nominations and instead focus the legislative session on oversight of the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus. Schumer argued from the Senate floor the chamber is taking a risk by returning to work while D.C. is seeing a surge in coronavirus infections. The move comes with a risk to the health of lawmakers and the Capitol workers needed to keep the building open, Schumer said. “Let the Senate at least conduct the nation’s business and focus like a laser on COVID-19,” Schumer said. Senate Democrats are seeking a new economic aid package that provides hazard pay for workers, rent relief, massive state and local aid, and more money for testing. They oppose McConnell’s desire to pass legislation that would provide liability protection for healthcare workers and businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits. McConnell pledged the Senate “is going to be as smart and safe as we possibly can, and we are going to show up for work, like the essential workers that we are.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/theyre-back-full-senate-gavels-in-for-first-time-since-march

>>9033432

?? with what??

>>9033417

>>9033423

He certainly sounds like he might be taking his talking points from either Brennan or Clapper..and the Penguin Schumer.

>>9033572

Here's a screen cap anon.

>>9033613

I haven't seen a date on this yet..need to check the Senate calendar.

>>9033635

This will be fun, digging.

Zip file extracting now over 3k files! NICE!

>>9033734

Thanks anon, it should be an interesting watch.

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