Tag

#intelligence

3 incidents

Updated July 17, 2018 Foreign Policy & War
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Helsinki Summit: Trump Sided With Putin Over His Own CIA on Election Interference

Trump and Putin met privately for approximately two hours with only translators present; there was no U.S. notetaker and Trump reportedly had his interpreter's notes confiscated. At the public press conference, Trump said he didn't 'see any reason why it would be Russia' that interfered in the election — contradicting the unanimous assessment of the U.S. intelligence community. When asked the next day, Trump claimed he had misspoken and meant to say 'wouldn't' instead of 'would.' The statement provoked condemnation from Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican Speaker Paul Ryan, and dozens of Republican members of Congress.

Sources
4
HelsinkiPutinRussiaintelligencefirst-term
Updated February 28, 2019 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Kushner Security Clearance Override: Intelligence Community Rejected, Trump Overruled

Kushner's initial SF-86 security clearance form, filed in January 2017, omitted more than 100 foreign contacts, including meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov. He amended the form multiple times. Career intelligence and law enforcement officials raised concerns about his business's financial entanglements with foreign nationals, including a $1.4 billion loan his family company received from Qatari-linked investors, and meetings he had had with foreign officials during the transition. Chief of Staff John Kelly wrote an internal memo stating he personally overruled the career professionals' recommendation against granting clearance. Trump later denied to journalists that he had ordered the clearance, contradicting Kelly's memo.

Sources
4
Kushnersecurity-clearancefirst-termcorruptionnepotism
Updated January 17, 2021 Rule of Law
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Intelligence Community Attacks: CIA Briefings Undermined, Officials Publicly Attacked

Trump's attacks on the intelligence community followed a pattern: dispute assessments that reflected poorly on him or contradicted foreign governments he was cultivating, attack the officials who provided them, reward officials who shaped assessments to his preferences, and revoke credentials of critics. He disputed the CIA's assessments of Saudi Crown Prince MBS's role in the Khashoggi murder, Russian interference in the 2016 election, North Korean nuclear progress, and Iranian nuclear program compliance. He revoked the security clearances of six former senior officials — all critics — and installed loyalists in acting DNI and other positions.

Sources
3
intelligenceCIArule-of-lawfirst-termBrennan