I’m coming very late to the blog scene, but here I am. There’s nothing special about this one, just my thoughts and ideas at random. It’s mostly for me, mostly a medium to organize my thoughts, but if it’s of interest to you I’m very glad to share. I do hope to post pretty frequently, just to reassure myself that I’m still thinking.
Will. Thank you for taking this discussion off line.
So … what did you think of the published reports that the intelligence agencies do not trust Trump because they did not share with him the sources and methods for collecting info on foreign leaders?
Is this “Fake News” as asserted by Trump?
Thanks, David —
The question of what institutions believe is always clouded. No doubt some in the intelligence world have a high opinion of President Trump. I don’t have any contacts in the FBI these days but what I know of the culture suggests that at least some FBI people are likely to be happy with him, and Mr. Comey certainly did what he could to tilt the election in Trump’s favor.
No doubt there are also some folks in LTG Flynn’s old outfit, DIA, who likewise are well pleased.
I do have reason to believe, however, that many people in the CIA and IC are very mistrustful of the president’s understanding, judgement, and motives. There are always limits to what the intelligence people are prepared to share with the White House in terms of information that might risk compromising the integrity of collection operations not to say the safety of field officers and their sources, and I suspect that these limits are especially tightly drawn right now.