Russia bounty intelligence 'may have been' in Trump brief but wasn't deemed 'actionable'

[Midnightwalk]

14. Ignoring PDBs is a republican presidential tradition

Don't forget Bush

Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US

[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bin_Ladin_Determined_To_Strike_in_US|]

Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US was the title of the President's Daily Brief prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency and given to U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday, August 6, 2001. The brief warned, 36 days before the September 11 attacks, of terrorism threats from Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, including "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for a hijacking" of U.S. aircraft.[1]

The President's Daily Brief (PDB) is a brief of important classified information on national security collected by various U.S. intelligence agencies given to the president and a select group of senior officials. On August 6, 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency delivered a President's Daily Brief to President Bush, who was vacationing at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.[2][3]

President Bush's response of "All right. You've covered your ass." has been erroneously linked to this PDB. This response, however, came from a separate PDB linked to Bin Laden from several months earlier. During 2001, CIA analysts produced several reports warning of imminent attacks by Bin Laden and al Qa'ida. Senior officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney and staff from Donald Rumsfeld's office at the Department of Defense, questioned whether these reports might not be deception on the part of Al-Qaeda, purposely designed to needlessly expend resources in response. After reevaluating the legitimate risks of these recent reports, CIA analysts produced a report titled "UBL [Usama Bin Laden] Threats Are Real". It was after this report that the president gave that now-infamous response.[4]

[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bin_Ladin_Determined_To_Strike_in_US|]

Same excuse only the particulars are different.

But I don't believe the excuse. There were ulterior motives.

For Bush there were members of his cabinet who were aching for war with Iraq. PNAC (btw does anyone remember Bill Kriston before he was rehabilitated) advocated for regime change starting in 1998.

In 1998, Kristol and Kagan advocated regime change in Iraq throughout the Iraq disarmament process through articles that were published in the New York Times.[25][26] Following perceived Iraqi unwillingness to co-operate with UN weapons inspections, core members of the PNAC including Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, R. James Woolsey, Elliot Abrams, Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Zoellick, and John Bolton were among the signatories of an open letter initiated by the PNAC to President Bill Clinton calling for the removal of Saddam Hussein.[19][27] Portraying Saddam Hussein as a threat to the United States, its Middle East allies, and oil resources in the region, and emphasizing the potential danger of any weapons of mass destruction under Iraq's control, the letter asserted that the United States could "no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections." Stating that American policy "cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council," the letter's signatories asserted that "the U.S. has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf."[28] Believing that UN sanctions against Iraq would be an ineffective means of disarming Iraq, PNAC members also wrote a letter to Republican members of the U.S. Congress Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott,[29] urging Congress to act, and supported the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (H.R.4655)[30][31] which President Clinton signed into law in October 1998.

[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century|]

Yeah remember back when Bill Kristol wasn't "rehabilitated"? I do. I just don't remember him being rehabilitated.

In Trump's case he has been allied with Russia for years. From memory:

The debt. The stolen election. The private Oval Office interview with only Russian press. Lifting sanctions. Interfering in Ukraine. Withdrawing troops from Syria. Many private meeting with Putin. Refusing to impose new sanctions. Inviting them to G7. Telling the pentagon to withdraw 9500 troops from Germany.

I'll add in the July 4th meeting of republican senators in Moscow.

I can go back further in time as well.

There is a long republican tradition of supporting causes against America's interest.

Maybe 2020 is the year we begin smashing bad traditions.