Adam Schiff does NOT speak for CIA guys who risk their lives
Adam Schiff is trying to explain to America why Donald Trump is not supposed to use classified information how he wants.
“No, people work hard to get that information. People put their lives at risk to get that information. That information protects American lives. And for him to treat it so cavalierly shows both what a continuing danger the man is, but also how very little regard he has for anything but himself,” Schiff told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
I’m one of those people who risked his life to get the information that is deemed classified. I was with the CIA for 12 years, involved in counterterrorism, counternarcotics, counterinsurgency, counterintelligence and non-proliferation. My rosy red butt was on the line many times, I have no right walking around alive. Adam Schiff does not speak for me. And I can tell you one thing for certain:
If the President of the United States is unable to use the information I brought, THEN I RISKED MY LIFE FOR NOTHING.
We elected Donald Trump to lead our country. That means we trust him to manage our country, make decisions for the country, lead our military and deal with foreign leaders.
I voted for Donald Trump. I still trust Donald Trump.
Think about the utter BS that Schiff is spewing. Imagine a scenario where the President has to have permission to use classified information. Who does he ask permission from? The President runs the executive branch, is there someone in that branch with authority over the President?
Imagine the President trying to negotiate with a foreign leader, or trying to make decisions in the middle of a war without the ability to use classified information – even to reveal it, compromise sources, use it however he judges will be most effective, when America’s best interests require it. We who gather that intelligence understand and accept that our efforts may be used in this manner. And we are proud to do it.
If you have ever received a security briefing, they all start with the same fact. Classifying authority originates with the President of the United States. Any intermediate authorities are granted from that chain of command.
This is an absolute power of the executive of the Executive Branch.
Remember Hillary’s email server? The one that spilled classified information, was likely being read by every hostile power in the world, compromising the Office of the Secretary of State for several years? She should have gone to jail for that, it was a blatant and careless breach of national security. But Barack Obama went on a talk show and said, casually, that he did not think her compromise of classified information affected national security. Because of this statement, she was off the hook. That is how it works, it is that simple.
Schiff talks about us poor intelligence gathering souls whose information is at risk. Schiff has never had his life on the line for America, so he doesn’t understand what it means to support America in this way. And yet, he claims to speak for us.
So the question is: Does Schiff know this and is just attempting to gaslight the citizens of the United States, a heinous, cynical and traitorous act?
Or is Schiff such an ignorant asshole that he doesn’t get this simple fact about the executive branch and how our country is managed?
No, he does not represent us. Adam Schiff is a cynical fool.
I find it impossible to believe you can not see Schiff’s, and most of the world’s point here. And that you have the balls to equate it with the Clinton server scandal. You seem to falter on the issues of what is right and what is legal. In this case, hard to see how you can say this is right or fits ANY of your examples. Legality is still under investigation, however he is guilty of violating the PRA, probably would be found guilty of obstruction if they bother to even indite, and violating the espionage act is still under investigation, probably the “nature” of the classification matters yet the super top secret documents don’t look good for the Donald.
And Espionage Act violations are what this is about; it is not about the Declassification process, or lack thereof.
Perhaps everything you say is OK. IMO it is. You do not consider the scale, the lack of Trump’s monitoring and control, the proper storage of said materials, or following any declassification any process whatsoever. It’s as if acting in bad faith that most can see in Trump’s endeavor to steal, declassify, hide, and lie about the egregious quantity of secret and top secret materials is totally missed by you. He stole it, he hid it, he lied about it, and he refused to return the people’s papers. It’s the actions of a man who puts himself above other citizens; he thinks he is King. He’s not even President anymore, he has no ability to declassify anything anymore, hasn’t had it for years.
You fall back on the “it’s legal, they do it all the time” argument which is not true —- NO ONE has ever done this. NO ONE has taken this much top secret stuff, hid it, lied about it, and refused to give it back. NO ONE.
Yes, Presidents used to declassify “on the fly” so to speak especially to support the things you note. But they tell someone, someday, somehow —– usually at the moment they declassify. And then someone says “tsk, tsk” you need to be upfront about this and we move on. Often it’s a “bob need to see this,” “he’s not got the clearance,” “no, bob needs to see this now” sort of moment OR like Trump with the Russians in the oval office, an oooops, sorry, guess it’s declassified now moment. OR a President opening the classified kimono on the fly in public for public safety where time is of the essence.
Same with having government papers —- it happens, usually we ask for them back, they give them, and someone says “tsk, tsk,” you need to be upfront about this, tell someone, and we move on.
NO ONE has ever taken over 11,000 documents, hid them, lied about them, and refused to give them back.
Hillary’s mistake was not even in the same ballpark and it probably cost her the election. It was not 33,000 documents, it was a handful of about 100 classified, and most were call notes about upcoming Clinton meetings. Hillary did not steal the information like Trump did. Most were also sent by others so there would be 100 people tried in this case. There was NO ESPIONAGE ACT sanctions needed.
Now we will do due diligence. Trump says the FBI planted documents; he claims they were there in force because they were looking for Hillary’s 33,000 emails; he clams everything was declassified using the Trump Jedi mind trick and anyone familiar with the force knows it. The special master has asked for Trump to provide proof of the document plant AND proof of the declassification. Trump will now answer these questions, in court, this Friday. It will be wild. Another set of Judges said Judge Canon is full of it and the investigation of the potential security damage can continue using the classified documents so that continues.
As we has said, over and over, this is not about Trump declassifying documents, or his right to do so as President. But he is not President anymore, he has a pile of this stuff, and it’s the Espionage Act they are investigating, not his right to declassify. This is about the PRA (he’s guilty), obstruction (who really cares), and the Espionage Act —- that’s the 800-lb gorilla waiting, but the top secret stuff puts Trump at grave risk in this one.
But beyond all this: how can you say with a straight face that this is right, this is OK, this is how Presidents should handle the people’s papers? It does not change the relevance of what you said; it’s just the scale of this goes well beyond any of the cases you present. Unfortunately, soon those days will be gone and after this you can pretty much be assured that stricter laws will be put into place precluding some of the privileges you note that protected so many, so often. Trump’s egregious actions will probably result in a stricter process and penalties for not adhering to it. Sort of a be careful what you ask for moment. And that’s his fault for doing it, but yours for condoning it.
Frank, what the hell are you talking about? Did you not read the article? The President of the United States has the privilege to do ANYTHING he wants with classified information. It is all generate for him, the buck stops there. He was ELECTED to handle the people’s papers.
Hillary was the Secretary of State, she does NOT have that privilege, she is subject to the laws of classification.
If you had read the article, you would realize that everything you wrote is crap.
Yes, I read the article; I responded and everything I said was correct. You did not point out ONE incorrect thing. Just your typical broad brush denial without specifics.
I said I agreed with most of what you said, but I am not sure the relevance of the “President of the United States has the privilege to do ANYTHING he wants with classified information. It is all generate for him, the buck stops there. He was ELECTED to handle the people’s papers.” I don’t disagree with that, nothing I wrote disagrees with that. It’s just that the Mar a loser raid, the warrant, and the affidavit don’t care about that, as I noted. You do, and that’s great, but it won’t play in court. We’ll get our first glimpse of that area when the Special Master reviews the Trump declassification and FBI plant information he requires them to present on Friday. Don’t even know why he asked, it’s really not relevant to the task, but think he just got pissed at Trump’s lack of focus on the real issues so he called the bluff.
SO….you tell me what I said that was incorrect. And why what you said above matters to the Presidential Records Act (which seems to say you are full of shit), Obstruction (as defined in the affidavit) or the alleged Espionage Act violations from the affidavit. Cuz what’s happening in court revolves around those issues, not anything you said.
Plus, show us where what you said is expressed in the Constitution or any law written by Congress or any case decided by SCOTUS. Show us the money!
Meanwhile, in case you missed it, Don is not President anymore so everything you talked about must have occurred prior to 2021. He apparently does not have to tell anyone he declassified all their shit either. I wonder what happens when someone goes to jail for wrongly sharing Don-declassified information….. Today, Trump is a citizen and has no “rights” to steal the people’s papers, hide them in a number of places in his house, lie to the Archives about what he has, refuse to return the stolen papers, and so on and so on.
I do not know where you see in the Constitution or anywhere that all of the people’s papers belong to the President, or that anything classified belongs only to him. Sure he owns the Executive branch, but remember the different branches of government, check n balances and the like. But he does not own every classified document, they are not written just for him, most never are seen by him, and chance are that NO classified document you wrote in your entire 12-year career even made it to his desk except as a regurgitated synopsis in another report. Just guessing, but government is a big place, there’s a lot of agents, and if you were a rocket scientist amongst them, you would still be there with a higher position.
Ex President Trump no longer receives security briefings — he was pulled by Biden for risk reasons.
And legal, smeagle: I still remain bemused that you don’t see anything wrong with this guy having 11,000 documents, hundreds of classified, dozens of top secret tomes stored in multiple places at Mar a Loser, many housed next to the pool under simple lock n key. Mar a Loser has hosted foreigners, spies, hackers, and gate crashers all with free reign over the grounds, especially the pool area. It is not hardened to house these types of materials. I guess he waived that too: “look Jedi force field stops all intruders…..”
Oye
Adam Schiff claimed he had info on Trump and Russia during Trump’s entire term. He was CONSTANTLY asked to provide the info but always dodged it. He lied!
You are clearly biased
the last guy was quite verbose in his comment but ALL of that said, it remains factually law that a presidents security clearance remains intact after leaving office. that means that he has FULL AND COMPLETE ACCESS TO ALL CLASSIFIED INFORMATION AT ALL TIMES AND LOCATIONS WITHOUT EXCEPTION.
AADDITIONALLY, clinton had no such constitutional authority to disobey the law prohibiting the use of insecure personal web and or mail servers.
her posession and use of that server is her crime, not sending\receiving classified emails…those are secondary issues.
she should be criminally liable to congress for that and all her other treasonous actions.
You are correct, but further, the President in not subject to classification laws at all. The purpose of the information is to support him, not the other way around.
And yes, Hillary should have gone to jail (not to Congress, but the the Justice Department), but Obama let her off the hook.
Well no duh captain obvious. I never said his clearance was revoked and it has nothing to do with the issues at hand. No one is saying he was not allowed to look at the stuff; read the affidavit and warrant —- it’s Presidential Records Act (he’s guilty, it’s a no brainer), obstruction (he’s guilty but probably won’t charge), and espionage act violations (innocent till proven but this is the open issue being investigated — his clearance level, declassification, all red herrings to the potential violation(s))
If Hillary broke the law, indite and convict — that’s a different topic Joe throws in as a diversion or a “whatta bout that guy.”
Joe is playing the ole “look over here” focusing on issues not germane to the case.
Friday is the next deadline —- Trump must prove he declassified; he must prove the FBI planted documents — who cares what Joe says, that’s what the Special Master says. It will be wild.
FYI: unlike past Presidents who view security information to be able to support the President, Trump’s security clearance no longer grants him access to the daily security briefings due to his perceive risk and lack of due diligence in handling classified information. So he may have clearance but he see’s nothing.
But Clinton can do as she damned well please.
Joe, (or Tim, or whatever moniker you are assuming today), If you truly worked in the CIA for 12 years (which I highly doubt), I am really frightened. You know absolutely nothing about how the government operates (per a discussion we had earlier, the US government has a procedure for everything, and that includes declassification, even by the President). As a former President, Trump has absolutely no right to possess classified information (or any other government owned documents for that matter). The fact that you voted for Trump twice and still trust him says a lot about your intellect, but while we are on the subject of intellect, having DT in charge of secrets in our government for 4 years was a travesty, he could never resist blabbing to foreign leaders to prove to them just how much (make that little) he knew. He is without a doubt the lowest IQ person to ever inhabit the oval office, and the fact that you think it is just fine that he ran off with Top Secret information that he chose to store at his golf club says so much about your intellect as well… No, Adam Schiff does not speak for the CIA, he speaks for the American People (at least those of us that are Patriots….)
Mike, you did not read the article. You clearly don’t know anything about how the government operates. And you have no conception of what a President is or does. Maybe if you had put your own life on the line for your country you would have paid more attention to how leaders lead and how important it is that leaders have the best information to use to prevent wars and keep America safe and thriving.
Whatever your name is, You seem to be overlooking one very important fact in your entire message-DT is not President! He does not have the right to have these documents. He stole them from the WH when he left. And if you believe that these documents were “safe” in the storage room, in the desk drawers of Trump’s office at MAL resort, you are sadly misinformed. His lawyers have not lied to the special master and said they were declassified, they have not argued the point in court that there was some sort of executive privilege even though he is not the President,, because there is no truthful argument to be made. He is not the leader of the nation (and highly unlikely he ever will be again). These documents have very sensitive information, that needs to be securely stored to protect the men and women that serve our country in clandestine services. Wake up, I read your article, and the points that you attempt to make are total BS….
Schitt does speak for anybody except Schitt
so schitt is full of schitt….. :>) clever.
Do you think that when Joe complains that two people have not read his article and are therefore uninformed that perhaps it’s the article and not the people…
When he argues that the people that lead our country need to have the best information in order to prevent wars and keep America safe and thriving, you have to realize that he is delusional since DT is not in any way associated with the government….
True. Voter fraud really works
Don don’t need no stinkin’ information to protect America, Don don’t need no stinkin’ Presidency to protect America, Don just needs his Jedi mind trick to convince them to go away :>). He would have done that for Putin and Ukraine, but did not want to upstage Biden by stopping the war. Yeah, right…..
Let’s say Joe is spot on (which he isn’t, he can’t support what he says via the Constitution, law enacted by Congress, or SCOTUS interpretation), when he bloviates that “The purpose of the information is to support him,” “The President of the United States has the privilege to do ANYTHING he wants with classified information. It is all generate for him, the buck stops there. He was ELECTED to handle the people’s papers.”
That must mean Hillary is off the hook since her “classified” was mostly notes about pending meetings meaning it was not generated for the President and therefore could NOT be classified if not prepared for him.
Also, since the Don declassified all this shit, when can we see it? I want specially to see the Sensitive Compartmented Information and the nuclear stuff. It’s declassified, let’s publish on the web and see what the Don thought was OK to declassify. That’s OK, right Joe — it’s all declassified so anyone can see it, right?
Joe apparently, like the Don, did not read the Presidential Records Act which states: “The United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control of Presidential records;” Somehow that does not sound like Joe’s “He was ELECTED to handle the people’s papers.”
Joe, your statement is ludicrous and not supported, in writing, by our Constitution, laws, or SCOTUS interpretations. Your concept that all classified documents are created for Don, to be handled by the Don, and that’s what we voted on, is just fictional. The law states they are the people’s papers, Don is the head of the executive branch, with all the privileges therein, but declassifying hundreds of documents using the Jedi mind trick, is certainly NOT a specified privilege.
But screw the law: how can you say this is proper Presidential behavior? Come on, tell us this is how you want Presidents to act now and in the future.