White House officials feared telling Trump about Russian bounties for one disturbing reason

[soothsayer]

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/06/white-house-officials-feared-telling-trump-about-russian-bounties-for-one-disturbing-reason/

Snip

Officials said staffers are especially reluctant to bring troubling information about Russia to the president, in part because they’re afraid he’ll tweet about it.

[2naSalit]

1. All the more reason

for the platform to boot him off of it.

[Chiyo-chichi]

2. Some staffers might have had this fear, but...

...when has he ever tweeted anything that puts Vladimir Putin in a bad light?

[brush]

10. Not Putin but our intel sources in a bad light. In other words, outed.

But all of that is beside the point. trump knew. Bolton told him all the way back in 2019 and he's done nothing but kowtow to Putin since then. He's of course afraid to confront Putin because of the kompromat the Russian has on him, not to mention all the millions he owes Russian oligarchs.

[soothsayer]

3. Can't they just tell him "ok, don't tweet about this"?

In sensitive meetings at ordinary work we’re clear about what can and cannot be shared at this time.

Too hard?

[Bettie]

4. He's a toddler

telling him not to do something is going to make him do it right away.

[C_U_L8R]

5. Another unlikely story to build deniability.

Trump knew. And it's even said Bolton told him.

[Yeehah]

6. Sounds like a cover-up narrative

Not buying it

[soothsayer]

7. Hmm, and pretext for pulling out of Afghanistan?

Snip

One source close to the White House said the president is eager to bring troops home from Afghanistan as a political stunt aimed at shoring up his base.

“The polling on this is overwhelming — it’s consistently 70-30 in favor of getting out, and cuts across party lines,” that source said. “But the core MAGA base in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania would be particularly excited by this.”

[Dennis Donovan]

8. Link to the original article

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-officials-didnt-want-to-tell-him-about-the-russian-bounties

Trump doesn't like intel outside his comfort zone, and officials are reluctant to push information in person that he'll resist. The chance he'll read the briefs? "Basically zero."

Erin Banco
National Security Reporter

Asawin Suebsaeng
White House Reporter

Updated Jun. 30, 2020 7:04AM ET / Published Jun. 30, 2020 4:42AM ET

The Trump administration has for years gathered intelligence about foreign powers, including Russia and Iran, using financial means to support and encourage armed militants in Afghanistan, according to six current and former U.S. intelligence and national security officials. And, those officials said, the president has been briefed about those wide-ranging efforts.

One current senior national security official and two other former officials familiar with intelligence gathering in Afghanistan said the Trump administration has closely tracked ways in which Iran uses cash to support militants in the Haqqani Network who have killed U.S. soldiers.

But when intelligence emerged earlier this year that Russia had concocted a specific plan to pay bounties to mercenaries to kill American soldiers, intelligence and national security leaders did not brief the president in person. A person with knowledge of the situation says that although they are aware that the intelligence has circulated in the White House and within Trump’s own national security apparatus, they were unaware of any direct, face-to-face briefing that the president had received.

The subject of what the president knew when—or if he knew anything at all— about the Russian bounties has become a major issue in Washington. "We need to understand why the President wasn't briefed, who knew about it and when, and what our response to Russia will be if these reports turn out credible,” Republican Rep. Bob Wittman on the House Armed Services Committee said in a statement. “If this intelligence is determined to be true, this is another in a long list of escalations of aggression from Russia.”

</snip>

[COLGATE4]

9. Another DUer (cannot remember the name) put it best:

"Living with Trump is like being tied to a chair and watching a toddler play with a loaded gun".

Apologies for not bookmarking this to give credit for this brilliant observation.

[Baked Potato]

11. They could have fed Trump "special" information and then wait to see what he did with it.