Politics –
National Security Briefings
Begin For ‘The Donald’
As the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump is set to receive his first classified national security briefing today in New York. Although the move is customary for presidential nominees of both political parties, the national security world and the White House are holding their proverbial breath in handing Trump this very sensitive data.
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Politics
Being a former U.S. Secretary of State, there is likely very little new intelligence information that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton doesn’t already know. However, being a former reality TV star with no prior knowledge or experience in foreign policy and national security matters, handing this data over to Donald Trump is a huge deal.  The GOP presidential candidate has proven himself to be an unpredictable loose cannon with no respect for rules that don’t fit his mood at the moment.  So, what Trump will do with this classified intelligence information, or how he might try to use it against his Democratic opponent or the current U.S. president is anyone’s guess.
Senior Democrats — including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid — are understandably concerned that Trump might be irresponsible with the sensitive information he is given, particularly after his “I was only being sarcastic” encouragement of Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails.
“How would the CIA and the other intelligence agencies brief this guy? How could they do that? I would suggest to the intelligence agencies, if you’re forced to brief this guy, don’t tell him anything, just fake it, because this man is dangerous,” Reid said of Trump’s impending briefing. “Fake it, pretend you’re doing a briefing, but you can’t give the guy any information.”
Interestingly, at least 8Â intelligence officials (who have chosen to remain anonymous) share Harry Reid’s concerns. Â Citing “The Donald’s” lack of foreign policy experience, his volatile style, and his little-known team of foreign policy advisers, they believe Trump’s “shoot from the hip” style could pose national security risks that would be irreparable to the country.
“People are very nervous,” said one senior U.S. security official.
“I would be very concerned with Mr. Trump’s ability to know what he can and can’t discuss” publicly about the contents of an intelligence briefing, said Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
National security and foreign policy officials are actively trying to determine “who on (Trump’s) team is trustworthy,” added another official. “We’ve never had a situation like this before. Ever.”
Politics
Since World War II, confirmed U.S. presidential nominees have traditionally received national security briefing from intelligence officials — including spy agency chiefs — covering a broad range of national security issues. Immediately following election day, presidents-elect have received the same Presidential Daily Brief that the sitting president receives, complete with material on the intelligence agencies’ sources, methods, and covert operations. Â Top figures in both major political parties have called on the government to end the tradition of providing classified briefings to the rival party’s nominee. Â However, the government deems it necessary for the smooth transition into the next presidency.
Despite the outpouring of fears, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he intends to avoid any perception of political bias by giving both Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton equal national security briefings on a regular basis.
“Nominees for president and vice-president receive these briefings by virtue of their status as candidates and do not require separate security clearances before the briefings,” Clapper said last month. “Briefings for the candidates will be provided on an even-handed non-partisan basis.”
Or will they?
The intelligence community is known for conducting some of the greatest stealth espionage in the world. Wouldn’t it be interesting if some of their best work came in the form of watered down briefings to Donald Trump? Wouldn’t it be interesting if they actually followed the advice of Sen. Harry Reid to “fake it?”
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Puleeze.
That fool can't even be trusted to run a credible campaign to win the presidency (SEE his latest campaign shake-up. Manafort demoted) let alone be trusted with – or have the intellectual wherewithal to effectively process – ANY classified national security information he may receive!?!
No. I'm with Harry Reid on this:
"I would suggest to the intelligence agencies, if you’re forced to brief this guy, don’t tell him anything, just fake it, because this man is dangerous,” Reid said of Trump’s impending briefing. “Fake it, pretend you’re doing a briefing, but you can’t give the guy any information.”
Politico:
"The struggling GOP nominee names a new campaign manager and CEO."
The Republican nominee tapped pollster Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager and Breitbart News Chairman Stephen Bannon as campaign chief executive, Conway confirmed to POLITICO early Wednesday morning.
The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Trump told the paper "I want to win” and "That's why I'm bringing on fantastic people who know how to win and love to win."
Campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who had been effectively running the campaign for the past two months, will stay on in his current position. But the shakeup seems to represent a diminution of his authority at a time when Trump's campaign is sliding in the polls versus Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, and has been badly damaged by a string of controversies stemming from Trump's own impolitic pronouncements. […]
H/T: HuffPost
And on a related note…BREAKING this morning:
REPORT: "Paul Manafort Laid The Groundwork For Russia’s Invasion Of Crimea"
Excerpt:
Donald Trump’s campaign chief sabotaged US interests in Ukraine and encouraged Russian nationalism in Crimea, a prosecutor investigating the Republican strategist alleges in a damning memo written last year (Maxim Tucker writes).
The report, leaked to The Times, sets out legal options for prosecuting Mr Manafort in Ukraine for “conspiring with a criminal organisation” and “inciting ethnic hatred and separatism”.
The senior Ukrainian prosecutor alleges that in 2006 Mr Manafort orchestrated a series of anti-Nato, anti-Kiev protests in Crimea led by Viktor Yanukovych’s pro-Russian Party of Regions — now designated a criminal organisation. The protests forced planned NATO exercises there to be cancelled. No charges were pursued because of a lack of evidence after Crimea was annexed. Mr Manafort did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr Yanukovych laid the groundwork for Russia’s annexation of the peninsula, which Donald Trump has now suggested he would recognise. […] – Times of London
Leon H. Wolf:
Get it? Manafort spent years in Ukraine helping to create the political pretext for Russia's invasion of Crimea, which was condemned by the whole world.
Three weeks ago, Trump stunned the world by suggesting that he might recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea officially – an especially bizarre move given that the press was openly suggesting that the Russians hacked the DNC in order to aid his campaign at the time. Now suddenly, this makes a lot more sense.
If Donald Trump has any interest in reassuring people that he is not, in fact, an unwitting (or witting, who knows) stooge of the Kremlin, he should really get busy on doing that soon, rather than continuing to make the problem worse. […] RedState writer
HotAir Reader:
It's finished. Trump should just drop out and take his ball and go home. This is what amateur hour, loudmouth politics gets you. Electoral disaster.
And there's also THIS being reported this morning…..
AP: Manafort channeled millions to lobbyists without disclosure
Excerpt:
Doanld Trump’s campaign chairman helped a pro-Russian governing party in Ukraine secretly route at least $2.2 million in payments to two prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012, and did so in a way that effectively obscured the foreign political party’s efforts to influence U.S. policy.
The revelation, provided to The Associated Press by people directly knowledgeable about the effort, comes at a time when Trump has faced criticism for his friendly overtures to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also casts new light on the business practices of campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Manafort and business associate Rick Gates, another top strategist in Trump’s campaign, were working in 2012 on behalf of the political party of Ukraine’s then-president, Viktor Yanukovych.
People with direct knowledge of Gates’ work said that, during the period when Gates and Manafort were consultants to the Ukraine president’s political party, Gates was also helping steer the advocacy work done by a pro-Yanukovych nonprofit that hired a pair of Washington lobbying firms, Podesta Group Inc. and Mercury LLC. [….]
Ed Morrissey:
The Podesta Group began in 1988 as a partnership between brothers John and Tony Podesta. Tony remains as chair of the group, which “has close ties to the Democratic Party and the Obama administration.” Its CEO, Kimberly Fritts, used to work for Jeb Bush. The Podesta Group highlights Politico’s declaration of its status as “a king of K Street.”
And of course, John Podesta is best known as a former chief of staff for Barack Obama, and until today Manafort’s opposite as campaign chief for Hillary Clinton. Interestingly, and notably, the AP cites sources within the Podesta Group for this story (as well as other sources). Coincidence? Don’t bet on it. […] RS writer
Ok now Truth you are killing me with the info today. Damn there is a lot going on behind the scenes. First I agree with Harry Reid, don't tell that fool a darn thing. Fake it like he said because Trump will never know the difference. Now as for his campaign shake up it just shows the whole organization is in shambles. I can't even process the information about Paul Manafort and Russia and Ukraine and all that yet.
Lol. I hear ya BD. It is a lot to digest.
But I posted the info about Manafort because it speaks directly to the very real concerns many, if not most, of Us have about Trump (even as a nominee) receiving any classified national intelligence info.
To say nothing of his campaign's inability to properly vet ..well…ANYTHING – whether it be a plagiarized speech OR people who serve Trump in positions of authority who may have his ear and could wield a great deal of influence over him. For example, a shady character like Manafort, who has a well-documented history of "business relations" with Russian oligarchs and Putin-backed politicians, should never have been part of Trump's campaign in the first place. But Trump and his staff are either clueless OR just don't give a d*mn. .
Easy to see how Putin could play that fool like a fiddle.