FBI and CIA give differing accounts to lawmakers on Russias motives in 2016 hacks

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Sun Dec 11, 2016, 02:05 AM - Edit history (2)

Source: Washington Post

FBI and CIA give differing accounts to lawmakers on Russias motives in 2016 hacks

By Ellen Nakashima and Adam Entous December 10 at 7:56 PM

http://twitter.com/nakashimae

https://twitter.com/adamentous

In a secure meeting room under the Capitol last week, lawmakers held in their hands a classified letter written by colleagues in the Senate summing up a secret, new CIA assessment of Russias role in the 2016 presidential election.

Sitting before the House Intelligence Committee was a senior FBI counterintelligence official. The question the Republicans and Democrats in attendance wanted answered was whether the bureau concurred with the conclusions the CIA had just shared with senators that Russia quite clearly intended to help Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton and clinch the White House.

For the Democrats in the room, the FBIs response was frustrating even shocking. ... During a similar Senate Intelligence Committee briefing held the previous week, the CIAs statements, as reflected in the letter the lawmakers now held in their hands, were direct and bald and unqualified about Russias intentions to help Trump, according to one of the officials who attended the House briefing.

The FBI officials remarks to the lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee were, in comparison, fuzzy and ambiguous, suggesting to those in the room that the bureau and the agency werent on the same page, the official said.
....

Julie Tate contributed to this report.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-and-cia-give-differing-accounts-to-lawmakers-on-russias-motives-in-2016-hacks/2016/12/10/c6dfadfa-bef0-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html

[turbinetree]

1. Where was Comey?

Was he in on that meeting--------------------BS?

[mercuryblues]

28. No he was

busy writing a letter to congress saying he would reopen the Clinton e-mail investigation. If Comey's was really concerned about not interfering with the election, he could have classified that letter as top secret. He did not. He was against making public the Russian hacking that benifited trump. He was afraid that information would influence the election.

[turbinetree]

37. Great.........................

there was a bunch of fascists republican jerks sitting in that room, -----------so that no one could "eves drop" on the conversations, because heaven for bid if someone found out, (they (Russian's hacked and election, DNC, and they knew they were meddling in a government and countries election for Christ sake)t, and then having turtle come out and say the CIA has no veracity, but when it comes to war, in his corrupt mind, says that they do have veracity, what a complete ass****, right along with that pencil neck Ryan and his leadership corrupt team of fascists.

So the re-count is stop in fascists Michigan, go figure,( because a federal candidate for the office of the president wants to find out what happened to votes------------there answer we don't care, fascists that's what we are for, for the plutocrats, and not for country and the republic and democracy and the vote, what the hell is that) knew that was going to happen with that corrupt bunch, and to top it all off, we have a serial predator running around saying the election is rigged, and he went to Two briefings, (sounds fishy, because someone probably said, hey s*** for brains with the orange hair, the Russians are doing something to the elections and we know and just want to get you up to your megalomaniac, sociopath, narcissistic, racist, bigoted, conman, fraud speed, what do you say), he runs around and does his La la la la la la la la I don't want to hear with his hands over his head parading around that he was for the worker, sure did fool them .

And then back around the September knowing a cover-up of the fascists republicans not saying a god damn word and not letting the public know, this is BS----------------they are traitors and that is an act of TREASON, and we the public are a lot more powerful than these jerks, and we should be demanding some answers, so come this Monday.

They can run but they can't hide, we know where they are sometimes work if they aren't taking off another 245 days of doing nothing ------------------ where is turtle and eddie munster this needs to laid at there right wing fascist feet-----------------now


And the "media" is trying to "normalize" this and talk about some celebrity or some other BS



Switch Board for washington senators and congressional people

[phone]

[roamer65]

2. Comey is trying to obfuscate his collusion with the Russians.

[Coyotl]

31. Comey is trying to obfuscate his collusion with Republicans.

[wordpix]

47. yes, "fuzzy" statements are clear signs of obfuscation.. Traitor Comey

knows what he's doing but it remains to be seen what the traitor does next.

[onecaliberal]

3. Why didn't obama fire comey

[George II]

5. Unfortunately he can't.

[StevieM]

9. Legally, he can. The president has the right to fire the FBI Director.

But it might be politically tricky.

Comey is an disgrace to our country.

And this was the James Comey election. Trump failed miserably in his effort to win over the voters.

[George II]

4. The FBI deals with domestic issues, the CIA deals with international issues.....

....I'm more inclined to believe the CIA.

[ffr]

6. And it changes only one thing, that instead of suspecting Reps were in bed with the Russians

we now know they were. They sold us out to the communists for the love of short term gain, greed and money.

Donald is Putin's prince of doom for our republic. There's only one word for those who still stand by him.

[LiberalLovinLug]

16. Not communist

But led by Putin, the former head of the Soviet KGB. Who turned his country into basically a mob ruled country with him as the "Don". He wanted another Don as an ally, to make deals with much the same way the Corleones made connections with mob bosses in other cities. I can imagine all kinds of mutually beneficial "arrangements" that benefit both very lucratively.

[deek]

46. excellent post n/t

.

[Coyotl]

32. Oiligarchs, not Commies.

Exactly the opposite of communism, in Russia today we have a corrupt plutocratic regime. Russia needs a communist revolution, frankly.

[Igel]

39. The difference is minor.

If the state owns everything and you have to be properly connected to have authority in the state, a clique of networked individuals control everything. The idea that in practice the people own squat in a collectivist and centralized society is insane. You go early nazi-style socialism c. 1910 or you go Lenin-Stalin type socialism c. 1940. Anything else is truly unstable. (No, Hitler pushed nothing like 1910-style nationalist socialism any more than Stalin pushed ur-Marxist-style socialism.)

Lots of high-placed figures in centralized governments have shown us that there are two ways to be truly wealthy: If you control millions of dollars worth of resources for your personal use, it doesn't matter if they're held in your name or not. The difference between expending money that you got through corruption for food, housing and medical care and just telling the bureaucracy to make sure that you and yours get the best food, housing, and medical care is moot.

It's not by coincidence that the early oligarchs were typically well-placed corrupt communist party leaders. Those who suffered were the honest ones, who used the system to provide everything for their family but missed out on the orgy of looting at the end. (The second round of oligarchs were rooted in organized crime, which also had no shortage of former communist party bosses.)

[Coyotl]

50. You won't be saying that if trump rules for four years.

That's like saying Bernie and trump are the same because government.

[yurbud]

43. if it was the GOP, not just Trump, Russia may get less than they hoped

War profits would trump mere political gain.

[wordpix]

48. GOP emails also hacked but GOP is mum, and there is speculation

there's damaging info on repukes that could be much worse than DNC email hacks. But repukes are, like Trump, unwitting Russian assets and/or simply don't want the info out re: their sexual proclivities, plans to dismantle Medicare and labor, civil rights and environmental laws and regs, and financial malfeasance. So most will stay silent and back Putin or their dirty laundry could be aired.

[wordpix]

58. no more US national identity; thieves at the helm part of international corporate oligarchy

They're operating like an international gang. They're for stealing our land, robbing us of our natural resources and privatizing them. They're against a min. wage and regulations. On and on. It's got to stop. I am very concerned that thieves are seizing our government.

[JI7]

7. maybe there are some Robert Hanssens left in the FBI

[atreides1]

8. That's because

The FBI is already in service to the Russians...I don't believe that Robert Hanssen was the only high ranking FBI agent taking money from the Russians!

[Nay]

55. I don't believe Hanssen was the only one, either -- because Hanssen was one of

those RW fundie Catholics, too.

[Kablooie]

10. The NSA needs to start listening in on FBI phone calls.

As well as Trump's.

[Raine1967]

11. Anyone who read this from the WSJ (link below) should Not believe the FBI at this point, ESP when

it comes to national security. I'm not kidding. It a LONG read, but it is important to understand why the FBI is disputing the CIA and -- to be honest, have a better understanding of why Comey said and did what he did the days before the election.

Note this article is not about Clinton, but rather how much power the FBI has over our diplomats and how they can ruin lives.

I believe the CIA, I do not believe the FBI.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-last-diplomat-1480695454

I won't excerpt anything, it is all that important to read.

[SunSeeker]

13. It's blocked by WSJ's paywall. Can you post 4 key paragraps?

All that the link allows are the first two cryptic paragraphs about Raphel getting in her car to go to the State Department.

[moonscape]

18. Google "The Last Diplomat" and go in from there.

That's the way around many to most walls.

[Deuce]

33. Thanks...interesting read so far!

[Pachamama]

17. Never thought I would find myself believing the CIA...

Then again, never thought I would find myself thinking George W Bush would be a welcome sight in the White House if we could replace Trump with him.

Did I just say that? Yes, I did.

[moonscape]

19. I hear you. I've said I'd crawl over sharp stones to

replace T with GWB if that was the only way to get rid of this monster.

[Pachamama]

23. I would join you in that crawl...

We have really entered the twilight zone...

As I sit here reading the news about the daily cabinet picks and now Tillerson as SOS and the CIA reports about Russia interfering in the election and the mind-numbing silence from so many Americans, I feel we as a Nation have literally been already taken over like in the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the Trumpster supporters are going to scream a high pitched sound at us and point because we are still aware and sane and see what is happening.

[Fast Walker 52]

27. yes, well put

[Dustlawyer]

36. I have always thought the W "Miss Me Yet" bumper stickers and billboards that came out after Obama

were a cruel joke, now I really do miss him! Shit, when that is the case you know it is bad!

[Raine1967]

38. I am in agreement -- especially after reading that essay. This is all too shocking.

Thanks for taking the time to respond, Pachamama.

[Igel]

40. One thread yesterday left me dazed.

It was questioning the loyalty and patriotism of any American who would dare criticize and question the CIA.

The only thing I could say was, "Really? Really?!"

Twilight Zone seems mild by comparison.

[KittyWampus]

44. The CIA is mostly career people who take their jobs seriously.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

42. The Last Diplomat

I could not access the article directly, due to the paywall. As moonscape suggested, I typed the first few words of the article in as a Google search term. The article came up, and I got in right away.

The Last Diplomat

As Robin Raphel worked for the State Department in Pakistan, her brand of traditional diplomacy ran into the new realities of covert surveillance. The collision turned her life upside down

By Adam Entous and Devlin Barrett
Updated Dec. 2, 2016 11:21 a.m. ET

[e-mail]
http://twitter.com/adamentous

{Yes, that Adam Entous, the one who is also writing for the Washington Post}

[e-mail]
http://twitter.com/DevlinBarrett

....
Over a four-decade career in the foreign service, whether in Islamabad, London, Pretoria, New Delhi or Tunis, Raphel had distinguished herself by building vast networks of contacts. She had spent as much time as she could outside the embassy, rubbing shoulders with politicians, military officers, journalists, aid workers and spies over teas, lunches and endless cocktail parties. Sources felt they could talk to her—that she understood them. ... Nowhere was that more true than in Islamabad, where she had started her diplomatic career. “I could go to Robin and say, ‘does this member of parliament matter?’ ” said Cameron Munter, who took over as U.S. ambassador to Pakistan in 2010. “She knew them all.”
....

Unbeknownst to Raphel, as she had made her rounds in Islamabad in the fall of 2014, and spoke to contacts on the phone and on Skype, law-enforcement officials half a world away had been listening. Raphel’s old-fashioned way of doing business—working outside the confines of the embassy compound—had run headlong into the realities of America’s global surveillance web, on which the U.S. had increasingly come to depend.

Since receiving a tip from an intercepted communication months earlier, the FBI had obtained warrants to monitor Raphel’s private accounts and to secretly search her home. They had transcribed information she had discussed with Pakistanis and taken it to intelligence officials, who had told them the topics were beyond her security clearance. The message, according to a former senior intelligence official, was that “Robin needs to shut up.” ... What they heard during her trip to Islamabad had been the final straw. Law enforcement officials said the people listening were convinced Raphel was a threat to national security.

The following account of the FBI investigation of Raphel is based on interviews with dozens of her co-workers, Pakistani contacts, intelligence officials, law enforcement officers and attorneys involved in the case.

[SunSeeker]

12. The FBI has lost all credibility. nt

[Nevernose]

14. The circumstancial evidence is completely damning

Did Putin personally autograph Russia's actions? Send a thank you note to Trump? Of course not.

Did Russia hack both the RNC and the DNC, yet only release the DNC emails? Yes. Even the FBI (apparently) believes that.

Do Trump and Company have close personal and financial ties to the Russian government going back decades? Yes.

Did Trump immediately begin nominating entirely pro-Russian cabinet members? Yes.

Have Trump and his people defended Russia -- even threatened to break up NATO -- at every step of the way? Yes.

For any law enforcement agency or prosecutor in the world, this case wouldn't even be close. The only true unknown is the extent of TrumpCo's involvement.

[wordpix]

56. great synopsis & I have q's about the Trump-China relationship

Trump acted fairly knowledgeable about China trade pre-election, and how would he know China's policies unless he had dealt with them as per TrumpBrand in China? He does not like China, and if Russia and China are feuding, he's a perfect foil to help Russia b/c he's been mouthing off about their great relationship for 1-1/2 yrs.

Maybe someone with information about the Trump-China relationship would put it in simple format like Nevernose did here about Comrade Trump. Since Trump is all about himself and getting revenge, you can bet his China policy will be based on whatever Chinese restrictions aren't beneficial for TrumpBrand and some feud ongoing.

[pbmus]

15. The kkk has arrived..

Kleptocratic kakistrophic klusterfuck brought to you by Putin and the Trumpsters

[geomon666]

20. The FBI has been politicized by the Republicans.

They are not to be trusted. They are a political arm of the fucking GOP.

[Fast Walker 52]

26. they have been political and reactionary and frankly corrupt from the beginning, with Hoover

[Coyotl]

34. The entire security arm of the US was politicized by Bush.

Not to mention, these agencies have always been filled by conservatives.

[Sunlei]

21. and Rudolph Giuliani republican gets to walk away from his connections to classified leaks?

[DFW]

22. Amazing--this exact FBI-CIA split was accurately depicted and foretold in a 1967 comedy film

"The President's Analyst" depicted a rigid right-wing FBI ("FBR" in the film) and a thoughtful, objective CIA ("CEA" in the film).

It was also one of the funniest films I ever saw.

[Douglas Kawasaki]

24. Comey is again trying to help Trump

and his pupper-master Putin.
James Comey is a threat to our country.

[wordpix]

53. while Congress is investigating Russia's role in our elections, Comey needs to answer

a few questions. F-ing traitor

[lou ky dem]

25. I thought all the division

Was supposed to be fixed after 9 11. Wasn't that the problem that the intelligence wasn't on the same page?

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. So the FBI accepted the Russians did it; they just didn't want to assign motives

It still should have been publicised as generally accepted that the Russians were doing it; it still should be, because Trump is pretending that it could have been 'Djina' or a guy in New Jersey. The FBI should be joining with others in pointing out Trump is bullshitting.

[ananda]

30. The FBI is completely tainted.

I don't trust anything coming from the FBI any more.

[deminks]

35. The FBI is compromised, The NYT is trying to play the false equivolence game

Comey is one of the conspirators who should be tried for treason

[rockfordfile]

49. I agree with you about the FBI

[wordpix]

57. that's how it appears but first things first, such as evidence

yes, Comey's utterances were bad timing and bad news for Hillary, even his non-news the 2nd time just days before the election, which in my mind I agree is treason. But..in a court and before Congress he will repeat his lines that he didn't hold back the info b/c he wanted to out all the news to be fair to all parties, blablahblah. So we have to establish the main Russian cabal participants, who are obvious, just look at Drumpty's cabinet and follow their tentacles and money.

They need to be questioned about their roles before they are confirmed by the Senate, of course. That is in the US Constitution. The Roligarchs are coming for that next, I suppose, if they get these foxes and assclowns confirmed.

[moondust]

41. FBI is for domestic concerns.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation

Granted there is a lot of overlap these days with the intertubes and all, but I would still be more inclined to trust the CIA on foreign intelligence issues since that's what they do.

[LisaL]

45. What was the FBI's (specifically Comey's) motive for sending the congress letter 11 days before an

election?

[Squinch]

51. Here's the quote from the article that shows the FBI is not acting in good faith:

The FBI is not sold on the idea that Russia had a particular aim in its meddling. “There’s no question that [the Russians’] efforts went one way, but it’s not clear that they have a specific goal or mix of related goals,” said one U.S. official.

So the FBI AGREES that the Russians meddled in the election, and that the meddling was entirely for the benefit of Twitler, but they aren't willing to say that the meddling was for the purpose of helping Twitler.

Assholes.

[wordpix]

52. "Twitler"

"Tweetler" works, too

[Squinch]

54. I didn't come up with that, but it's so genius I'm doing my part to spread it around!