By Reginald Johnson
Elements of the intelligence community appear
to be waging a determined campaign to oust Donald Trump from the presidency and
block any détente between the United States and Russia.
Ever since Trump was elected, there has been
a string of damaging leaks coming out about classified phone conversations
between members of the Trump administration, and Russian officials.
All the leaks, and the reporting on them in
the media, have made it appear that Trump and his top officials are too close
to Russia and that Russia ---- an “adversary” nation --- may be taking
advantage of the U.S.
While previous administrations have had to
deal with classified leaks, the number that has taken place since Trump got
elected has been unprecedented.
Already the Trump administration has suffered
a casualty from this campaign. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was forced
to step down after information leaked that he may have improperly discussed the
lifting of sanctions against Russia with the Russian ambassador during a phone
call prior to the Trump administration taking office on Jan. 20.
Since it is the intelligence agencies ---
primarily the FBI, NSA and CIA --- that
have access to the contents of intercepted phone calls between U.S. and foreign
officials, the obvious conclusion is that it is intelligence officials that are
doing the leaking.
Under law, the disclosure of classified
information is a felony criminal violation, no matter who is doing it.
It’s apparent that a group of people in the
intelligence community that don’t like the direction of Trump’s foreign policy
due to Trump’s repeated statements about establishing better relations with
Russia, want to smear him and thwart any
rapprochement with Russia.
Russia in turn has previously been discredited
with a barrage of claims --- none of them substantiated --- that Russian
officials somehow “hacked” the November election and helped Trump win.
Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio
told an interview on FOX Business last week that it’s clear what’s going on.
“What’s
at the core of this is an effort by some in the intelligence community to upend
any positive relationship between the United States and Russia,” he said in the
FOX interview, which was also reported by Cleveland.com.
Kucinich added that war profiteering is
threatened by a more peaceful relationship with Russia.
“And I tell you there’s marching band and Chowder Society out there. There’s gold in them there hills,” he said. “There are people trying to separate the U.S. and Russia so that this military-industrial-intel axis can cash in.”
He added, “What’s
going on here with the intelligence community with the new president is
unprecedented. They’re making every effort to upend him….This is like Deep
State. It’s like some kind of spy novel. But it’s real. The American people
have to understand a game is being played with the security of our country.” ( See “Ex-Rep. Dennis Kucinich says intelligence
community schemed against Michael Flynn” http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/02/ex-rep_dennis_kucinich_says_in.html)
Eli Lake, a national security columnist for
Bloomberg View, in a piece entitled “The Political Assassination of Michael
Flynn,” wrote that “Normally intercepts of U.S. officials and citizens are
among the government’s mostly tightly held secrets. This is for good reason.
Selectively disclosing details of private conversations monitored by the FBI or
NSA gives the permanent state the power to destroy reputations from the cloak
of anonymity. This is what police states do.”
By “permanent state” Lake was referring to
the intelligence agencies whose employees, except for appointees at the top,
stay in place no matter who is president. They hold sweeping powers and their
activities are largely kept secret.
The New York Times and Washington Post, which
have led media outlets in giving the anonymous leaks wide play, have reported
that a number of people who were part of the Trump campaign are under investigation
by the FBI for their ties to Russia.
A congressional investigation is now underway
on the claims of Russian election interference, even though cyber experts and
former CIA officials have debunked them.
It is surprising that so much of the media
and many members of Congress are giving the leaks and inferences of wrongdoing so
much credence. After all, the contents of any intercepted phone calls with
Russian officials have been known for many months going back into the Obama
administration. If there was any indication of illegal activity, that
information would have been given to the Attorney General (Janet Lynch) and surely
a prosecution would have followed.
But that didn’t happen. Presumably, nothing
illegal was found. So why all the fuss?
Why is all this stuff being fed to the press?
Is there something illegal about talking with
a Russian official now? Are we reverting back to the McCarthy era --- people
being investigated for “contacting” a Russian? ‘Are you now or have you ever been consorting
with a Russian official’?
There is something very disturbing going on
here. Members of the intelligence community are misusing their power to push
this country to pursue a geopolitical agenda that they think is appropriate regardless of what the President
wants.
Kucinich made a very telling point in his
interview. He said the abuse of power by the intell community has to be a
concern for all Americans, Republican or Democrat.
“Wake up America,” he said.
Indeed.
