“Wouldn’t it be a good idea for the CIA to at least have hard evidence before the spy agency precipitated a nuclear war?”

Robert Parry

“A people always ends by resembling its shadow. ” Rudyard Kipling

According to a declassified assessment, the CIA (backed up by the NSA  and the FBI) has now firmly concluded — with ‘Slam-Dunk’ High Confidence — that “Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him.”

Let me repeat. So far, the ‘evidence’ is NIL! The two reports released do not PROVE that Russia – let alone Putin and the RIS – hacked the US Presidential election. Yes, there is smoke… But the facts available to us — mere mortals — are indeed more than just a possibility, but certainly less than a certainty. For those interested to read a fair and balanced account of the story as we understand it today, I recommend to read ‘Something About This Russia Story Stinks ‘. Full stop about that. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

RELATED POST: Former MI6 Chief: ‘ Electronic voting presents serious hacking risk.’

For now, let me ask you a question: Who has been publicly discrediting one candidate while praising the other? Allow me to remind you what three former CIA Directors have said about Trump in the last months of the campaign and what the current director did once Trump was elected.

RELATED POST: Bernard Bajolet: DGSE Warned French Government of Trump Victory in December 2015!

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden (General) — May 30, 2006 – February 12, 2009

Former acting CIA director Michael Morell says that Putin has cleverly recruited Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.

I’d prefer another term drawn from the arcana of the Soviet era: polezni durak. That’s the useful fool, some naif, manipulated by Moscow, secretly held in contempt, but whose blind support is happily accepted and exploited.

That’s a pretty harsh term, and Trump supporters will no doubt be offended. But, frankly, it’s the most benign interpretation of all this that I can come up with right now. 3 November 2016

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta — February 13, 2009 – June 30, 2011

“I have a lot of concerns of his qualities of leadership or lack thereof. (…) Trump truly is not qualified to be president of the United States.” July 2016

Related Post: Ex CIA Boss: Trump is not qualified to be POTUS

Former (acting) CIA Director Michael Morell — November 9, 2012 – March 8, 2013

On Nov. 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton. Between now and then, I will do everything I can to ensure that she is elected as our 45th president.

Two strongly held beliefs have brought me to this decision. First, Mrs. Clinton is highly qualified to be commander in chief. I trust she will deliver on the most important duty of a president — keeping our nation safe. Second, Donald J. Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security. (…)

In sharp contrast to Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trump has no experience on national security. Even more important, the character traits he has exhibited during the primary season suggest he would be a poor, even dangerous, commander in chief. August 2016

RELATED POST: And the Next CIA Boss is:

CIA Director John Brennan — March 8, 2013 – Current

GOP Congressman Peter King of New York has dropped a bombshell accusation against CIA Director John Brennan, accusing him of having leaked information about an investigation into Russian hacking to the media for the sole purpose of obstructing President-elect Donald Trump’s election.

“It seems like to me there should be an investigation what the Russians did but also an investigation of John Brennan and the hit job he seems to be orchestrating against the president-elect,” King told “This Week” host Martha Raddatz on Sunday, referencing recent announcements made through the media that the CIA had discovered evidence of Russian hacking.

He added that he found it disturbing that Brennan had rushed to the media to share his agency’s findings instead of first briefing the intelligence community.

“Either we need a new election or hang Brennan for putting out disinformation,” former CIA operative Robert Baer told Newsweek.

Conclusion

Although it may very well be true, I do not know that Russian Intelligence Agencies have attempted to discredit one candidate and helped the other. On the other hand, it is absolutely obvious that the current and three former Directors of the CIA did exactly that.

PS: During a Senate panel hearing Thursday on foreign cyberthreats, Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) cited research that concluded that the CIA has involved itself in 81 different elections abroad since World War II while Russia has done it about 36 times.

REFERENCES

Hypocrisy Behind the Russian-Election Frenzy — Robert Parry