Well, stab me in the eye with a fork, imagine what I thought when I learned that Ezra Cohen-Watnick was one of the sources that House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes surreptitiously met with at the White House. I knew I remembered the name, and I only had to travel a little more than two weeks into the Wayback Machine to refresh my recollection.
President Donald Trump has overruled a decision by his national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, to sideline a key intelligence operative who fell out of favor with some at the Central Intelligence Agency, two sources told POLITICO.
On Friday, McMaster told the National Security Council’s senior director for intelligence programs, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, that he would be moved to another position in the organization.
The conversation followed weeks of pressure from career officials at the CIA who had expressed reservations about the 30-year-old intelligence operative and pushed for his ouster.
But Cohen-Watnick appealed McMaster’s decision to two influential allies with whom he had forged a relationship while working on Trump’s transition team — White House advisers Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner. They brought the matter to Trump on Sunday, and the president agreed that Cohen-Watnick should remain as the NSC’s intelligence director, according to two people with knowledge of the episode.
The career professionals at the Central Intelligence Agency seem to have a lot of reservations about Team Trump, and now we can begin to see some of the reasons why. It’s also no coincidence that Devin Nunes shows up in that article about Cohen-Watnick. He’s there to bolster the case that the CIA only went after Michael Flynn and his allies, Robin Townley and Cohen-Watnick, to protect their own turf, rather than because Flynn has been the subject of a counterintelligence investigation since last July.
And, I mean, look, this isn’t just long-time intelligence officers who are grumpy about being criticized. The Washington Post reported that McMaster decided to remove Cohen-Watnick at the request of Trump’s hand-picked CIA director:
McMaster had been told by CIA Director Mike Pompeo that some intelligence officials had problems with Cohen-Watnick and didn’t think he was up to the job, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The intelligence director provides White House interface with the intelligence community and is a filter for information to the president.
So, Cohen-Watnick stayed in place because of the intervention of Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner, and then he promptly decided to use his position to create a scandal for the White House by inviting the House Intelligence chairman to visit the White House in the dead of night after switching cars and ditching his aides.
And then he let the White House and Nunes lie like hell about it:
Nunes had previously denied this, and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had cast scorn on the allegation.
Last week, Nunes went to the White House grounds and reviewed intelligence documents with a source. Though he and his spokesman repeatedly vowed to never reveal any information about his source, he apparently told Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) that the information came from a “whistleblower-type person” and told Bloomberg’s Eli Lake that the source was an intelligence official but not a White House staffer. Nunes also claimed that no one at the White House knew he was there — a claim that would require shocking ineptitude on the part of the Secret Service team that clears all visits to the grounds before guests can enter.
Spicer also mocked the notion that the White House had provided the information — which Nunes then presented to President Trump before even alerting his committee.
“I don’t know what he actually briefed the president on, but I don’t know why he would come up to brief the president on something that we gave him,” Spicer told the press corp last week. “That doesn’t really seem to make a ton of sense.”
Obviously, Spicer didn’t understand the plan. Nunes was given this information, but it was never supposed to be revealed that he got it from Bannon and Kushner’s toy poodle senior director for intelligence programs on the National Security Council. Nunes even, apparently, lied to Speaker Paul Ryan about the source of his information.
I don’t know if you watch cable news, but it’s chock full of former CIA officers who are braying for blood over the whole Russian connection to the Trump administration, and also about how Nunes is handling the investigation. What we should be concerned about is whether their near-hysteria is justified or not.
When it came to Cohen-Watnick, their concern was obviously well-placed regardless of your perspective. From the Trump team’s perspective, he was a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode in their faces. From an ordinary person’s perspective, he just compromised a congressional investigation.
Cohen-Watnick worked under Michael Flynn at the Defense Intelligence Agency (before Flynn was fired and flew the coup for Moscow) and Cohen Watnick was personally recruited by Flynn to work on the National Security Council. When Flynn turned out to be a disaster, it should have surprised no one that one of his top recruits would meet the same end.
Nothing that anything these clowns do makes a ton of sense. And why anyone even believes anything that comes out of Spicer’s mouth says all you need to know about the sorry state of this country.
Cohen-Watnick did not compromise a congressional investigation the treasonous Nunes did that. Cohen-Watnick offered it to him and Nunes took the bait. Nunes comprised himself as well.
Perhaps it is commendable that Nunes was willing to take his source to the grave with him – I just wish he’d hurry up about it.
These people make me sick.
My guess is that Cohen-Watnick was Bannon’s spy in the NSC. Once Flynn was out they needed someone there to check loyalty of others, including McMaster. I wouldn’t be surprised, too, if Bannon engineered the whole thing, either setting Nunes up as a stooge or garnering his cooperation with promises (denied today in Spicey’s press conference) … or because they have something on Nunes to force his cooperation.
Someone leaked these two names to the NY Times. There must be a great deal of unhappiness in that place.
When we first heard about this escapade, my wife and I were reminded of some of our favorite TV shows and not in a good way. This looks like a plot idea that was rejected from “House of Cards” because the Underwoods may be evil, but they’re at least competent and take themselves seriously. It was then shopped to “Scandal,” who found the idea crazy enough, but too silly even for them. Olivia Pope and her gladiators would at least not get caught and her father would kill anyone who did find out. The concept was then pitched to “Veep,” which accepted it because of the comedy potential. The problem is that the characters on “Veep” can at least do something right by accident. I’m not so sure that’s true about Nunez and his contacts inside the Trump White House.
You write:
I do not watch cable news, because as you say it is full of so-called “former” CIA officers and other semi-covert, DC -revolving-door representatives of the Deep State.
There are very, very few truly “former” CIA officers. Bet on it. Only the ones who have heavily criticized the CIA for long periods of time are to be even partially trusted. Ray McGovern is one of them.
Read my latest post for more…from McGovern and others.
THE RUSSIAN ISSUE!!! (Amidst Much Gnashing Of Media Teeth.)
This is all going to blow up real good, as they used to say in the Second City Television series. But it won’t be “true,” no matter how big the blowup. Like Watergate, it will just get rid of one criminal with whom the other criminals disagreed. I hope it does take Trump down, but if it doesn’t…if he survives this ongoing Deep State attack and remains as president…we will have squandered much energy that could have been used to oppose him on every front imaginable, and we will once again have lost the fairth (and therefore the attention and votes) of working America.
Dem business as usual.
“Deplorable!!!” in the true sense of the word.
AG
Arthur, stop being a hack. You haven’t done shit to oppose Trump other than bore people here with overly long posts full of sanctimonious Broderism.
Who is we? You have never portrayed yourself as part of the “we” so don’t pull that crap now.
You are correct. I haven’t done anything to oppose Trump…
Except of course:
1- Try the wake this site the fuck up to the seriousness of his threat when y’all were still snickering in your teacups about what a clown he was.
and
2-Later try to warn you that he’d eat up HRC before you knew what hit you and warning you months in advance of the leaked emails that Sanders was being extensively backstabbed by the DNC.
You are right. I do not “oppose Trump.”
I oppose the whole established system, Trump and anti-Trump.
You don’t like it?
Continue supporting the DNC and watch what happens in 2020.
Down like a motherfucker, one way or another.
Down because Trump survives or down because the anti-Trump hustle works to near perfection and the DNC wins but loses its remaining soul.
It is often said that hindsight is 20/20.
Well, ishmael…my foresight has been 20/20.
Deal wid it.
AG
Instructive to see that Reichsfuhrer Bannon and Reichsmarschall Kushner were able to team up and get Der Trumper to overrule the Lt Gen’ral and restore the 30 year old nutjob Flynn protege to his post as an intelligence shadow.
Another case of needing a Trumpissar overseeing a general, ala the “Defense” Dept commissar(s) looking over Mattis’s shoulder? For all Trumper’s proclaimed love of his “tremendous!” ex-generals, it sure doesn’t seem like he trusts them all that much. Sort of like Der Fuhrer and the (Prussified) German General Staff…
I’m sure young master Ezra Cohen-W has a wonderfully broad-ranging and well-developed view of international security issues. Must’ve been in gub’mint for almost 5 years now!
Mike Flynn Offers to Testify in Exchange for Immunity
Nothing to this Russia stuff.
Yup. Nothing to see here. Move along.
It would be McCarthyist to see anything here, of course.
Absolutely nothing. People with true discernment realize all this Russia stuff — this is simply distracting us from more important battles, like the second siege of the ACA?
Besides, what’s wrong anyways with Flynn facilitating fraternal expressions of peace and friendship between two great peoples, Russian and American?
I’m sure that’s all that was involved. Mir i druzhba!
Let me hear your balalaikas ringing out!
“Kruschev wouldn’t be so bad/no he wouldn’t get so mad/if they’d let him bring his balalaika along…”
“Flew in from Miami Beach BOAC.”
Wasn’t BOAC a CIA front? Was McCartney a CIA operative like the rest of the Beatles?
Cooperating with Russia is going just swell, as our drone strikes are now at 3x the rate of Obama’s. Glad we got our anti-interventionist president in office. Everyone knew he wasn’t a pacifist or even anti-war. Just anti-interventionist.
The second siege of the ACA is right around the corner. The NYT has told me that Ryan and Amash and the Freedom Caucus are regrouping. Oh wait:
Republicans Are Hardly Even Talking As Health Care Negotiations Sour
That whole governing thing is hard work.
At least the democratically elected Assad will remain in power in Syria. What a wonderful world we live in.
With his democratically elected barrel bombs.
Oh wait, that’s all disinformation, including reports from Doctors Without Borders, a well known CIA front.
But, I was told that HRC and Trump were about the same on foreign policy?
I was told repeatedly that Clinton was going to start a war with Russia. It turns out Russia took us over without a fight.
.
It is a distraction.
It’s distracting us from analyzing the real corrupt plutocrats…..the democrats and their puppeteers, the Clinton’s. I include Chelsea in that, because she is obviously being groomed to take the Queens place.
.
Chelsea’s husband is Jewish, just like Ivanka’s. That’s got to be suspicious. Looks as if the ZOG is the real culprit here.
very interesting theory
his clarification
“I don’t know if you watch cable news, but it’s chock full of former CIA officers who are braying for blood over the whole Russian connection to the Trump administration, and also about how Nunes is handling the investigation. What we should be concerned about is whether their near-hysteria is justified or not. “
Justified-
Digital Pearl Harbor.
Let that sink in a sec. Senate public hearings clearly show that it worked because we weren’t prepared for such activity. One way to make sure it doesn’t happen again, make the person responsible for such a direct assault on the US pay.
We made Adm Yamamoto pay. We made Bin Laden pay. Have to make Putin pay. Not be sending in Delta Force, but by making so uncomfortable for those around him to send in Their Delta force.
Use RICO and civil forfeiture to seize assets and bank accounts of those who prop up Putin. Maybe block Net Access to US from Russia randomly and blame Czar Vlad. Then start having private words with Russian Businessmen, “You know, none of this would be happing if not for Putin. And it will continue until…..”
Make it too hot for him to remain in power.
Then address the election problems.
Ridge
This proposed strategy is rather heavily hobbled by the fact that the Administration, our main executor of foreign policy, will openly and directly work to subvert attempts to turn up the heat on Putin/Russia.
It presupposes a different Admin and Congress. I can’t see Trump lasting through the year with senior staff and family gone after investigations.
Next question- Can Democrats take advantage of chaos in WH and GOP Congress to take over one or both Houses of Congress? Then exert muscle against Russia.
Other option, revelations are so embarrassing for GOP, they have to lash out and blame someone. Can’t be the Party leadership. Can’t be the base. Can’t be the Democrats. Must be Russians. they go real hard line and make it so rough for the Big Money in Russia that they need a scape goat.
R
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