WSJ: “Spies Keep Intelligence From Trump“
[Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced.]
That’s one way to protect against treason.
Namely, keep the President and his inner circle out of the loop, so they can’t betray any secrets to hostile foreign governments.
Unfortunately, if true, that solves one problem while creating a vastly scarier one: the President of the United States — the leader of the Free World — not knowing what the $&@%# is going on!!
Leak-Proof
To conjure just one scenario from history, imagine the Office of Strategic Services (“OSS”), the predecessor to the CIA, not trusting FDR with intelligence that Japan planned to attack Pearl Harbor.
Why might it mistrust the President with such information?
Perhaps because he owed the Japanese government money, or had business interests there (just supposing).
Or because Japan had compromising information on him.
Or maybe both.
Treason committed by Julius Rosenberg, an Army engineer who divulged nuclear secrets to the Soviets (and was executed for it), is damaging enough; how catastrophic might treason be at the highest levels of U.S. government?
Who’s in Charge?
What happens now?
Clearly, the status quo — an ongoing breach between the President and the intelligence community — is untenable.
One scenario is that the President identifies and ousts anyone in the CIA, FBI, etc. he deems disloyal or outright hostile. See, “President Wants Ally to Review U.S. Spy Agencies” in today’s NYT.
In business, that’s known as “cleaning house”; in government, it’s called a purge (at least in the West).
Scenario #2: the intelligence community and its allies — in and out of Congress — make their case why the President can’t be trusted, and some sort of public verdict is rendered.
For the country’s sake, my hope is that the looming interregnum is brief, and that it’s resolved decisively, in accordance with the nation’s longstanding legal and constitutional principles.
