‘Slap in the face of the American people’
The president’s remarks for a change in the election security intelligence briefing on Saturday sounded as benign as ever. Visiting Texas for a response survey to Hurricane Laura, he said National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe removed personal briefings because he made sure election security information was “not leaked.”
Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Saturday that “The Situation Room.”
“America’s taxpayers are paying billions of dollars for intelligence gathering – and we, the people, should benefit, the intelligence that brings knowledge,” King said, caucus with Democrats. “It’s better not to learn about it next February or March. We’re talking about interfering in our elections this year, which we know is going on – the intelligence community has already told us that.”
King pointed out that members of Congress need face-to-face briefings to ask questions following written reports, to enhance the understanding and investigation of intelligence representatives. “So this is a real step. It’s a real slap in the face to the American people, who have a right to know what the intelligence community knows. That’s where they are.”
But Trump dismissed alarms from lawmakers such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Chairman Schdam Schiff, his two top political rivals, who called the maneuver “informing Congress and shocking” the administration’s “legitimate responsibility.” Attempts by foreign powers to interfere in his election were “betrayed by the right of the people to know.”
“Director Radcliffe brought the information to the committee and the information was leaked,” Trump told reporters in Texas in response to a question about the reason for the change. “Whether it was a shift shift or someone else, they leaked that information before it came and it’s even worse that they leaked the wrong information and he got fed up with it, so he wants to do it differently. Is because you have liqueurs committee.
Schiff reacted on Twitter on Saturday night, saying the president was “lying and projecting.” Democrats in California have argued that Trump fired the last director of the National Intelligence Department for informing Congress about Russian efforts to help his campaign.
“Now he’s completely finishing the briefings,” Schiff tweeted. “Trump doesn’t want the American people to know about Russia’s efforts to help re-elect.”
King told Blitzer that during his nearly eight years on the Senate Intelligence Committee, he could not recall any time when anything was leaked from the committee.
Potential foreign interference
“We assess that if China favors President Trump – whom Beijing sees as unpredictable – he will not be able to win re-election,” Ivenina wrote. “China is expanding its influence efforts before November 2020 to shape the policy environment in the United States, forcing politicians to oppose China’s interests, and condemning and criticizing China.”
Ivanina said Russia was “using a number of measures to discredit former Vice President Biden and what he sees as an anti-Russian establishment.” This is consistent with Moscow’s public criticism of him when he was vice president for his support of the Obama administration’s policies on Ukraine and its support for anti-Putin support inside Russia. “
Iran and Ivanina said Trump and Trump are trying to “weaken U.S. democratic institutions” in hopes of further dividing the country.
In a bipartisan display at the time, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Virginia Sen. The top Republicans and Democrats on the Intelligence Committee have issued a joint statement urging the intelligence community to “continue to make this information available.”
On Saturday, they responded to the news in separate statements. Werner’s decision to suspend personal briefings was “an unprecedented attempt to politicize an issue – to protect our democracy from foreign interference – it must be non-partisan.”
“Congressional oversight of intelligence activities is now facing a historic crisis,” Rubio said in a statement. The Florida Republican was blaming the Democrats and slamming Leak.
“Yet, this outrageous criminal misconduct does not free the intelligence community from meeting its legitimate needs,” he told Congress, adding that he spoke with Ratcliffe, who said the committee would receive a briefing. There is no indication that the briefing will be resumed in person.
A change in the Trump administration’s policy on intelligence briefings could clarify the extent of American voters’ information about electoral interference – the question now is whether they will demand more transparency from the administration in its efforts to disrupt democracy.
.
