Quote Originally Posted by TheCurmudgeon View Post
... and none of them came up with the intelligence. Nor would they ever come up with the intelligence. As you have pointed out, they are simply political appointees. They are not the dedicated civil servants of whom I have served with - of which I speak.

What seems clear is your total lack of understanding of how intelligence is gathered, processed, and presented.
Well, aren't you being Curmudgeonly today...

Like it or not, political appointees speak for the US Intelligence Community.

What is most interesting in all of this is that the ODNI report contains no mention of Sanders, who WikiLeaks' main revelations gave a fighting chance at the Democratic National Convention, even after Clinton had secured the support of a clear majority of the super-delegates.

The report and various insinuations all imply that Trump is effectively a Russian agent and has been prior to launching his bid for the White House. Yet Putin would presumably have been satisfied with Sanders as President, who was both isolationist and in favor of slashing military spending. Unfortunately, Russia's preferences - which make sense - have been twisted into de-legitimizing Trump.

Also note the list of former intelligence officials who have publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton, and this list does not even include former NSC or DHS officials:

  • David Shedd (DIA)
  • John Negroponte (ODNI)
  • Michael Leiter (ODNI)
  • Matt Olsen (ODNI)
  • Michael Hayden (NSA)


CIA alone:

  • John Brennan (current Director)
  • David Petraeus (ex-Director)
  • Michael Morell (ex-Director)
  • Michael Hayden (ex-Director)
  • Robert Gates (ex-Director)
  • Mike Baker (officer)
  • Evan McMullin (officer)


I agree that Trump needs a good relationship with the US Intelligence Community, but that does not mean that Hillary's bitter partisans are not still running interference.

During Bill Clinton's tenure, it was said that the DCI would have to crash a helicopter into the White House to get an audience with Bubba, and yet we hear nothing about how Clinton ignored a CIA plan to destroy Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, or how the pretext for the Kosovo War was a complete sham.