Former CIA Chief misled public about Trump and Russia


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Former CIA Chief John Brennan faces renewed scrutiny following revelations that challenge his past statements and actions. The controversy stems from two significant developments that have emerged this weekend.

George Papadopoulos shared a leaked 2020 email from Brennan that demonstrates the “51 intel experts” who signed a petition organized by then-future Secretary of State Anthony Blinken were aware they were making false claims. The email reveals their petition was specifically designed to counter President Trump’s criticisms of Joe Biden and his family, despite knowing the authenticity of Hunter Biden’s laptop. The viral post has garnered over 1.7 million views.

Additionally, investigative journalist Paul Sperry published a detailed report exposing discrepancies in Brennan’s Trump-Russia collusion assessment. The report draws from evidence and interviews with former DNI and current FBI Chief John Ratcliffe, indicating Brennan knowingly distributed inaccurate information about the alleged collusion.

According to Paul Sperry:

In a pre-hearing questionnaire obtained by RealClearInvestigations, Senate Democrats asked Ratcliffe, “Do you agree with the ICA’s judgments,” specifically that “Putin’s goals in influencing the 2016 presidential election included ‘denigrat[ing] Secretary Clinton, and harm[ing] her electability and potential presidency'”?

They also asked Ratcliffe if he concurred with the ICA’s finding that “Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.”

Ratcliffe answered that after reviewing the ICA’s underlying intel, including sources and methods, he could only agree that “Russia’s goal was to undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions and sow division among the American people,” according to page 38 of the document.

He noted that “Russian social media campaigns included efforts to both support and criticize candidate Trump as well as candidate Clinton, further suggesting an overarching goal of promoting discord.” In other words, he saw no concrete evidence to support a plot by Putin to side with Trump against Clinton.

In the questionnaire, Ratcliffe also pointed out that Moscow has “long used” propaganda, disinformation, and cyberattacks to target not only U.S. elections but also those in other Western democracies, implying its 2016 influence operation was nothing new.

The assessment conducted by Ratcliffe contradicted Brennan’s Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), which had previously shaped public perception and triggered multiple investigations. Despite Brennan’s insistence that the ICA wasn’t influenced by the Clinton campaign’s anti-Trump dossier, evidence suggests otherwise. This revelation follows President Trump’s recent decision to revoke Brennan’s top-secret security clearance, citing his involvement in falsely dismissing the Hunter Biden laptop story as Russian disinformation.

These developments mark the second instance where Brennan has been caught deliberately misleading the American public to undermine President Trump and his supporters. As evidence continues to surface, questions arise about potential consequences for these actions within the intelligence community.