Considering how long U.S. intelligence agencies have monitored strongarm dictators like Vladimir Putin, it’s no wonder they have become adept at slicing through an autocrat’s bullshit and exposing the lies at the heart of their public statements. In a sad development, they’ve begun using that same set of skills to dismantle Trump’s lies.
For disturbing reasons, Trump abruptly cancelled his promised “Russian hacking” announcement in a tweet that seemed to accuse American Intelligence officers of withholding information from him out of spite.
The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
CNN’s Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Scuitto spoke with sources within the intelligence community and they flatly stated that this was a complete lie. There was no intelligence meeting scheduled for today.
1/Intelligence officials tell CNN briefing by DNI Clapper & CIA Dir Brennan on hacking review never scheduled for today. https://t.co/5wKnyhtta6
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 4, 2017
It appears that Trump used this lie as a pretext to cancel the vague “announcement” he had previously promised that was purported to be his defense of Russia and “new info” about the hacking that only he knew.
“And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.”
When asked what he knew that others did not, Mr. Trump demurred, saying only, “You’ll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.”
The tweet was also dishonest in a number of other ways, which Scuitto pointed out in a series of tweets.
2/With the ".." PEOTUS appears to be calling into question both the hacking & his own intel agencies https://t.co/5wKnyhtta6
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 4, 2017
3/This is the 3rd story Trump & team have told on #Russian hacking in 3 days. 1st was that Trump had "new info" only he knew
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 4, 2017
4/Second was they needed to wait for final review to make a judgment. Now PEOTUS seems to be dismissing that review as "intelligence"
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 4, 2017
Trump has so far not confirmed that he will ever provide that promised secret information he has about the Russian hacking scandal and has repeatedly avoided specifying any details. It appears as if it is – like all of his fake “proof” that Obama was from Kenya – a complete fabrication meant only to get people to avoid criticizing him.
This is only the latest time Trump has publicly sided with Putin over his own intelligence agencies. It’s becoming a pattern for him to publicly smear the men and women working in agencies like the CIA with claims that they are either inventing evidence or too stupid to know who is hacking the election. When he was a reality tv star it was one thing. Now he’s about to be President of the United States.
Featured image via Isaac Brekken/Getty Images
