Thursday, February 16, 2017

Also Dangerous

U.S. intelligence officials have withheld sensitive intelligence from President Donald Trump because they are concerned it could be leaked or compromised, according to current and former officials familiar with the matter.

The officials’ decision to keep information from Mr. Trump underscores the deep mistrust that has developed between the intelligence community and the president over his team’s contacts with the Russian government, as well as the enmity he has shown toward U.S. spy agencies. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump accused the agencies of leaking information to undermine him.

  Wall Street Journal
If he's going to have sensitive meetings with foreign leaders out on the dining balcony surrounded by wait staff and dining public citizens, then it's a wise move. He's the one undermining them with his absolutely mind-boggling flippancy.
Mr. Trump doesn’t immerse himself in intelligence information, and it isn’t clear that he has expressed a desire to know sources and methods. The intelligence agencies have been told to dramatically pare down the president’s daily intelligence briefing, both the number of topics and how much information is described under each topic, an official said.

[...]

But in these previous cases in which information was withheld, the decision wasn’t motivated by a concern about a president’s trustworthiness or discretion, the current and former officials said.

[...]

The current and former officials said the decision to avoid revealing sources and methods with Mr. Trump stems in large part from the president’s repeated expressions of admiration for Russian PresidentVladimir Putin and his call during the presidential campaign for Russia to continue hacking the emails of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
But it's not that they don't trust him.
A White House official said: “There is nothing that leads us to believe that this is an accurate account of what is actually happening.”
What will it take? A letter?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

No comments: