The goal of a counterintelligence investigation is to identify and stop threats to national security. Such cases are fundamentally different from criminal investigations, which seek to collect evidence of a crime and are eventually resolved by pursuing or declining to pursue charges in court. By contrast, once a counterintelligence investigation is opened, it is ultimately closed by determining no threat to national security exists or it has ceased to exist, or by taking actions to render ineffective — in intelligence lingo, to “neutralize” — the threat.
This leaves only one option for neutralization: exposure.
Exposing the activities of a foreign intelligence service renders them ineffective, since it removes plausible deniability, which is the hallmark of covert intelligence operations. It also reveals the sources and methods that a foreign power is using, forcing them to abandon the operation. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has already utilized this avenue by bringing criminal charges against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for a disinformation campaign on social media and against 12 GRU officers for hacking the Democratic National Committee’s emails. This alternative has its downsides: It allows our adversaries to know what we know, enabling them to up their game the next time. (The current aggressive attempts by Russia’s Internet Research Agency to compel discovery of Mueller’s sources and methods in court is an example of this tension.) But where the national security threat is severe, the need to stop the activity immediately can outweigh the costs.
This is where Mueller’s report comes in. Until now, the American public has seen only snippets of Mueller’s investigation — those that he has chosen to make public through criminal charges. But since not all activities uncovered by a counterintelligence investigation, even those that pose a significant threat to national security, are necessarily criminal, they do not reveal the full breadth of what Mueller may have discovered. Only by laying out all of his counterintelligence findings — including what role, if any, Trump played in Russia’s intelligence operation against the United States — can the criminal charges be placed in context and the full scope of the threat be assessed.
If the counterintelligence case against the president was eventually closed because it found that Trump did not pose a threat to U.S. national security, Trump should welcome Mueller’s report reaching Congress. This conclusion would stop the speculation about Trump’s relationship with Russia and reassure the American public that his loyalties remain with the United States. But if it wasn’t, and the threat to national security is ongoing, then informing Congress of the nature of the threat is paramount. This would be the only way that Congress can determine whether it should take the ultimate step to neutralize the damage that the president could inflict on the nation — through impeachment and removal from office.
A sobering assessment of what law enforcement can be expected to accomplish once a threat to national security is the President. The disappointing conclusion is that it is ultimately up to Congress to remove the threat, which is unsettling when you consider that Republicans are continuing to back Trump over the security and well being of the country even in light of the revelations from the past several days. Lindsey Graham has come out against the FBI in opening its counterintelligence investigation, and has stated that the interpreter for the private meeting between trump and Putin absolutely should not testify regarding that conversation.
It's a long and detailed read, but worth it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...-threat/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.be2b36a2a0e5
A sobering assessment of what law enforcement can be expected to accomplish once a threat to national security is the President. The disappointing conclusion is that it is ultimately up to Congress to remove the threat, which is unsettling when you consider that Republicans are continuing to back Trump over the security and well being of the country even in light of the revelations from the past several days. Lindsey Graham has come out against the FBI in opening its counterintelligence investigation, and has stated that the interpreter for the private meeting between trump and Putin absolutely should not testify regarding that conversation.
It's a long and detailed read, but worth it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...-threat/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.be2b36a2a0e5
This is what happens when the FBI becomes political and tries to interfere where they should not!
Still so many pissed that Trump is our president until 2020.
Well, all y'all have to do is find out if anyone in the FBI thinks there is a threat...why they think there is a threat...and, of course, who in the FBI thinks there is a threat.
While you are at it, you can find out who is leaking information about FBI investigations to the media and why they are breaking the law.
A sobering assessment of what law enforcement can be expected to accomplish once a threat to national security is the President. The disappointing conclusion is that it is ultimately up to Congress to remove the threat, which is unsettling when you consider that Republicans are continuing to back Trump over the security and well being of the country even in light of the revelations from the past several days. Lindsey Graham has come out against the FBI in opening its counterintelligence investigation, and has stated that the interpreter for the private meeting between trump and Putin absolutely should not testify regarding that conversation.
It's a long and detailed read, but worth it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...-threat/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.be2b36a2a0e5
A sobering assessment of what law enforcement can be expected to accomplish once a threat to national security is the President. The disappointing conclusion is that it is ultimately up to Congress to remove the threat, which is unsettling when you consider that Republicans are continuing to back Trump over the security and well being of the country even in light of the revelations from the past several days. Lindsey Graham has come out against the FBI in opening its counterintelligence investigation, and has stated that the interpreter for the private meeting between trump and Putin absolutely should not testify regarding that conversation.
It's a long and detailed read, but worth it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outl...-threat/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.be2b36a2a0e5
Congress ultimately holds the keys to dealing that and it is clear we are already in a constitutional "crisis of fidelity" where the Constitution is clear on what remedies must be taken, but the majority of Congress is unwilling to swallow that bitter pill.
If Obama had acted how Trump acts, you would have been more than pissed.
Obama never came close to the suspicious and dangerous behavior this president does on a regular basis, despite much fear mongering on the part of rightwing talk radio about Obama having been a clear and present danger. Now Trump does it blatantly, loudly, proudly, on every platform from Twitter to Helsinki to private phone calls with dictators where the president of Turkey helps determine U.S. military policy without advanced notice to the Pentagon, and the FBI is too political if they do their job in assessing potential threats to the country. Sure.
Turkey is an ally of the USA. Are you suggesting that Trump should NOT trust and work with our allies? How would that help USA national security.
Naturally, Obama conspired with Russia prior to the 2012 election.
What is missing in these concerns is an explanation and argument what actions the FBI thinks Trump did to warrant their concern. Firing their boss ain't it.
Turkey is an ally of the USA. Are you suggesting that Trump should NOT trust and work with our allies? How would that help USA national security.
Naturally, Obama conspired with Russia prior to the 2012 election.
Which is why I stand by my assertion that oaths to the Constitution are nothing more than lip service.
The Kurds are our allies. Turkey is a threat to the Kurds.
To whatever degree we do work with Turkey, U.S. military policy shouldn't be decided during phone call with a dictator, leaving the Pentagon flatfooted by the announcement.
That kind of behavior from Trump sends up red flags. Red flags get investigated if you have intelligence agencies and a Congress who are committed to do their duties.
Please link to a source showing that FBI counterintelligence was investigating Obama. I'll wait.
This is what happens when the FBI becomes political and tries to interfere where they should not!
Still so many pissed that Trump is our president until 2020.
If you don't know the answer to that, then you have not been paying attention. Hint: it's not for firing their boss.
The Kurds are our allies. Turkey is a threat to the Kurds.
To whatever degree we do work with Turkey, U.S. military policy shouldn't be decided during phone call with a dictator, leaving the Pentagon flatfooted by the announcement.
That kind of behavior from Trump sends up red flags. Red flags get investigated if you have intelligence agencies and a Congress who are committed to do their duties.
The Turks are our allies. The Kurds wish to dismember Turkey. Thus they are a danger to Turkey.
It's a difficult conundrum for the USA, to be sure.
They're "breaking the law" because there is no other recourse. The goobers elected a Russian asset president and, as the WaPo link will elucidate for you, exposure is the only option.
In other words, you don't know either.
Nice.
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