Oligarchy FTW
by digby
Following up on the post below where I point out that Republicans failing to care about deficits when a GOP president is in office is business as usual for them, I would just note that this would be cause for revolution if it happened under a Democrat:
Several wanted to fiddle with the punctuation, some wanted to add nice things about John Brennan; others thought it would be wiser to pare them back.
But in 12 hours, a couple of former CIA senior aides pulled off a first in American history. CIA directors who had served every previous president going back to Ronald Reagan had signed on to a letter doing something they would never have imagined doing: publicly criticizing the president of the United States.
They were objecting to President Trump's announcement that he was stripping the security clearance of Brennan, who was CIA director under President Obama.
“I call it the rigged witch hunt, [the Russia investigation] is a sham,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal. “And these people led it!”
And there may be more coming ... The WashPost's Karen DeYoung and Josh Dawsey report: "The White House has drafted documents revoking the security clearances of current and former officials whom President Trump has demanded be punished for criticizing him or playing a role in the [Russia] investigation."
"Trump wants to sign 'most if not all' of them, said one senior White House official."
"[C]ommunications aides ... have discussed the optimum times to release them as a distraction during unfavorable news cycles."
The letter's startling roster includes former CIA directors Webster (Reagan, George H.W. Bush), Gates (George H.W. Bush), Tenet (Clinton and George W. Bush), Goss (George W. Bush), Hayden (George W. Bush), Panetta (Obama) and Petraeus (Obama).
"As former senior intelligence officials, we feel compelled to respond in the wake of the ill-considered and unprecedented remarks and actions by the White House regarding the removal of John Brennan’s security clearances," the letter begins.
The addition of this "subject to" was one of the late edits: "You don’t have to agree with what John Brennan says (and ... not all of us do) to agree with his right to say it, subject to his obligation to protect classified information."
Nick Shapiro — a former CIA deputy chief of staff in the Obama administration, who helped orchestrate the letters — tells me that a major concern of many of the signatories was President Trump's implicit threat to current intelligence officers:
"It’s setting up a system where the national security and intelligence apparatus is being told: 'You better just agree with the president, and you can't give him news he doesn't like.'"
"That's a very dangerous thing: It's the exact opposite of the climate and culture you want in your intelligence team."
The letter was endorsed by 15 former intelligence officials of the director or deputy director level.
But other CIA alumni wanted to join in. So late yesterday, a second letter was circulated, signed by 60 former CIA officers (analysts, station chiefs, operations officers, a former President's Daily Brief briefer):
"Our signatures below do not necessarily mean that we concur with the opinions expressed by former Director Brennan or the way in which he expressed them. What they do represent, however, is our firm belief that the country will be weakened if there is a political litmus test applied before seasoned experts are allowed to share their views."
Another person coordinating the letters tells me: "[R]equests from many other senior CIA alumni who would like to have signed it are pouring in."
Think about this. The right wing lost their minds when the Democrats passed a market friendly health care bill. Imagine what they would have done if a Democratic president messed with the CIA and FBI like this?
The spooks need to be scrutinized. But that's not hat's happening here. He's just abusing his power to intimidate anyone who crosses him. There are a lot of lower level FBI and CIA whose futures depend on having top security clearances. I'd guess many of them will be careful not to do anything that might upset Trump and his henchmen going forward. Or, at least, they will be very circumspect about anything that would reflect badly on the president.
I think it's hilarious that he's being egged on in this by Rand Paul, our alleged civil liberties hero. Sure, he's always been a harsh critic of the Intelligence Community, often for good reason. But he shows his true colors when he helps this monster cover up his crimes.
Despite their paeans to freedom, Libertarians often have a strong authoritarian streak that manifests itself as a worshipful attitude toward money and the power that comes with it. A corrupt oligarch is their perfect leader.
.
