CIA liaison is first casualty of conflict between intelligence agency and Trump

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian


Retired marine was abruptly let go from position informing relevant White House officials about covert operations following clash with NSC official

Spencer Ackerman in New York
@attackerman
Thursday 20 April 2017 15.27 EDT


When the history of Donald Trump’s war with the US intelligence community is written, the name of the conflict’s first casualty is unlikely to be recorded, as the former marine officer is still a serving CIA official.

That marine officer was the CIA’s liaison to the White House, whose duties included bringing relevant White House officials with appropriate security clearance into the loop about covert operations.

According to current and former White House and intelligence officials, he lost a bureaucratic struggle with his nominal boss, the National Security Council’s controversial intelligence director.

Multiple former colleagues described the former CIA liaison as a consummate professional with no history of infractions. But late one afternoon in mid-March, the retired marine was abruptly informed that his services were no longer needed and he ought not to come to work the next day. Co-workers were shocked at a display that seemed designed to humiliate him.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/20/trump-cia-firing-intelligence-community-white-house

[Plucketeer]

1. Somebody - ANYBODY -

Throw some sticks in the spokes of this self-serving and dangerous regime!

[annabanana]

2. Kic rec tweet & FB . . .. n/t

[OldRedneck]

3. The Trump Mob is about to learn an important lesson:

Do not fuck with the people who have the secrets.

[pangaia]

4. god i sure do hope so...

[wishstar]

5. More excerpts claiming connection with the Nunes/Cohen-Watnick antics

"Some sources considered the removal of the CIA liaison to be an act of retaliation for the attempt to get Cohen-Watnick off the NSC. The episode occurred in mid-March, before Nunes made his allegations.

Other sources pointed to attempts by the former CIA liaison to stop Cohen-Watnick from taking actions which a White House official declined to describe substantively but characterized as appearing to “operationalize” the NSC.

In US national security circles, that term evokes the idea of using the NSC to perform secret or sensitive operations as a backchannel around both Congress, which does not review the NSC, and agencies like the CIA which would be likely to object. The issue arose during the Iran-Contra scandal, when Marine lieutenant colonel Oliver North, an NSC official in Ronald Reagan’s White House, sold Iran weapons to fund anti-communist death squads in Nicaragua against Congress’ express orders.

The former senior intelligence official said Cohen-Watnick had committed “serious protocol violations.” Among them were appearing to take responsibilities for certain covert programs away from the CIA and communicating with lower-level intelligence officials outside of established channels that ensure intelligence chiefs and deputies are aware of White House requests and concerns."

There are much more details in the article

[BumRushDaShow]

6. This part

In US national security circles, that term evokes the idea of using the NSC to perform secret or sensitive operations as a backchannel around both Congress, which does not review the NSC, and agencies like the CIA which would be likely to object. The issue arose during the Iran-Contra scandal, when Marine lieutenant colonel Oliver North, an NSC official in Ronald Reagan’s White House, sold Iran weapons to fund anti-communist death squads in Nicaragua against Congress’ express orders.

The former senior intelligence official said Cohen-Watnick had committed “serious protocol violations.” Among them were appearing to take responsibilities for certain covert programs away from the CIA and communicating with lower-level intelligence officials outside of established channels that ensure intelligence chiefs and deputies are aware of White House requests and concerns.

suggests efforts that may be underway to create a shadow government in a similar fashion, most likely to funnel money to Russia around the sanctions. I.e., finding "loyal" underlings (knowledgeable in procedures and methodology) who can "make it happen".