Ex-CIA Officials Give Early Briefing To 2020 Candidates After Russian Interference

KEV, UKRAINE - 2018/08/19: Seal of United States Central Intelligence Agency seen displayed on a smart phone. (Photo by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
KEV, UKRAINE - 2018/08/19: Seal of United States Central Intelligence Agency seen displayed on a smart phone. (Photo by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Former top CIA officials are briefing all of the current 2020 contenders with an unclassified national security report — similar to the classified briefing delivered to party nominees during presidential elections — taking an early stab at warning candidates about foreign election interference, The Washington Post reported.

Fueled by “the recent rise and abundance of fake news and foreign election interference,” the two former directors Michael Morell and John McLaughlin have distributed to the 37-page briefing book to all the candidates who have announced their bids and plan to deliver it to President Trump soon, according to the Post.

“The only aim in this is to provide a foundation of fact and analysis for debate and discussion,” McLaughlin told the Post. “No one has to agree with everything. These are contentious issues. But these are the views of people who have worked on these issues for a long time.”

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Noam Chomsky correctly noted that Israel interferes in our elections FAR more than Russia ever has. Here’s a quote from his interview with “Democracy Now” (and link below that):

    “So, take, say, the huge issue of interference in our pristine elections. Did the Russians interfere in our elections? An issue of overwhelming concern in the media. I mean, in most of the world, that’s almost a joke. First of all, if you’re interested in foreign interference in our elections, whatever the Russians may have done barely counts or weighs in the balance as compared with what another state does, openly, brazenly and with enormous support. Israeli intervention in U.S. elections vastly overwhelms anything the Russians may have done, I mean, even to the point where the prime minister of Israel, Netanyahu, goes directly to Congress, without even informing the president, and speaks to Congress, with overwhelming applause, to try to undermine the president’s policies—what happened with Obama and Netanyahu in 2015. Did Putin come to give an address to the joint sessions of Congress trying to—calling on them to reverse U.S. policy, without even informing the president? And that’s just a tiny bit of this overwhelming influence. So if you happen to be interested in influence of—foreign influence on elections, there are places to look. But even that is a joke.”

    Link to full story: https://www.democracynow.org/2018/7/27/noam_chomsky_on_mass_media_obsession

  2. So they’ll have Donnie Jr. as the main exhibit on what NOT to do?

  3. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    So the ex-CIA officials told them the greatest threat to our democratic election process is the current occupant of the White House? Seems fair.

  4. If the document is not classified, we all should be able to see it. We need to know what foreign influence looks like too.

  5. Avatar for sanni sanni says:

    Imagining Gabbard, pushed it aside, rolled her eyes, and said something to the effect of “Whatever”.

    The others, I imagine (and hope), will pay attention.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

3 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for 2strange Avatar for sanni Avatar for bboerner Avatar for pshah Avatar for gusfabriani Avatar for maximus

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: