John Brennan Is Back and He's Nuttier That Ever

Screengrab from https://twitter.com/MoodyFooka1/status/1042101170704199682

Yesterday, President Trump ordered the declassification of a lot of documents that have been at the center of the Russia-collusion investigation, such as the text messages of Comey, McCabe, and others, the Carter Page FISA warrant application, etc. When combined with Devin Nunes’ stated intention to declassify and release the testimony of about 70 witnesses this should provide the American public with the most complete accounting of how the Russia probe was nurtured and birthed. The only reason these documents are being released is because they will show what kind of a sham this entire investigation has been. A wide swath of the left has crapped its drawers over the temerity of releasing to the American public documents they should be allowed to see in order to assess the validity of the allegations. Among those seeking a fresh pair of trousers is former CIA director John Brennan.

This is the first time I’ve seen the putrescent John Brennan since President Trump used his security clearance for bum-fodder, but he’s back and he’s in fine fettle.

John Brennan Explains How Dangerous It Is For Our National Security On Trump Declassifying Documents On
Carter Page’s FISA Warrant…Trump Is Literally Giving Russia & The World The Keys To Our National Security pic.twitter.com/CvFOmaYiXM

— OldMoodyFooka #foo (@MoodyFooka1) September 18, 2018

(Sorry about the quality but I don’t get paid enough to buy television clips)

MITCHELL: “Let’s get reaction to this decision from NBC News senior national security analyst and former CIA Director John Brennan. How unusual is this?”

BRENNAN: “Well, it is very unusual and it’s very concerning from two principle perspectives. One is that I think it is highly inappropriate and unethical for Mr. Trump to the take any action that pertains to the FBI criminal investigation of Russian collusion, and Russian — and cooperation with Russia in the election of which Mr. Trump and close associates are subjects. So that should not happen that he would be able to take such an action — he certainly has the authority to do it, but I do think it is highly inappropriate, and I think everybody who knows these issues feels similarly. Secondly, to basically order the Department of Justice and the FBI to release this information, even that which was redacted earlier, it’s really just pushing this envelope, and I think it’s making a lot of law enforcement official, Department of Justice officials and intelligence community officials very concerned about the negative impact and consequences of doing that. So, yes, he has the authority to do these things. The question though is whether or not it is the right thing to do and whether it is something that Mr. Trump is just trying to continue to find ways to get himself out of the mess that he is currently in.”

MITCHELL: “Now, as we sit here and talk about this very important decision, the president, we want to the say is now coming out with first lady to welcome the Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife for a visit. They will have a working lunch. We will have a news conference later today. We, of course, will carry that live. That news conference is probably around 10 minutes after 2:00, and as they arrive here at the South Portico, we don’t expect any comments. So as you’ve been saying, the nature of this is going to the heart of the warrants against Carter Page, those are warrants and a wealth of documentation that could include sources and methods. Now, how that is declassified is up to the agencies, but you have to think that the DNI and the top officials would not be welcoming this move, but it’s — it’s an order from the White House. Should they be weighing it, should they be protesting, some people have said, some people should be resigning in protest.”

BRENNAN: “Well I think that Christopher Wray, director of the FBI and Dan Coats, director of national intelligence as well as Rod Rosenstein who is overseeing this investigation should push back against any directive that is going to have a negative impact on our capabilities as well as the investigation. So I think that they should continue to push, push, push, if Mr. Trump and the White House does not relent, then I think they have some decisions to make, whether or not they are going to the just not follow that direction and be fired or to resign. But if they really believe that this is going on to have serious impact on the national security, law enforcement, and judicial process, they have an obligation since they took the oath of office to the Constitution of the United States and not the Mr. Trump to uphold their responsibilities and their agency and the departments’ authorities.”

Here are some key points. First, Mueller is not conducting a criminal investigation of the “Russian collusion.” Mueller’s charter is for what is essentially a counterintelligence investigation, or fact-finding, with the ability to prosecute any crimes arising from that. It is very difficult to see how any documents released under the directive issued by Trump yesterday could reasonably effect any investigation. And releasing documents has to be the most counter-intuitive way of conducting a cover-up that has ever been conceived. Second, the comfort/discomfort of various DOJ and FBI functionaries isn’t all that relevant. They have the right to their opinion but their opinion doesn’t determine the outcome.

While one would expect Wray and Rosenstein, via DNI Coats, to contest some release, where Brennan goes off the rails and into full-blown stupidity is encouraging disobedience that leads to firing or resignations over a decision the president is legally empowered to make and about which reasonable people can disagree. What he seems to be doing is setting the stage for declaring Wray and Rosenstein puppets of Trump when the materials are released.

It is one thing to resign when you are given direction that is illegal, immoral, or unethical. It is simply childish to do the same when you don’t get your way.