On February 13, 2018, The Intelligence Chiefs participated in a hearing held by the US Senate Intelligence Committee.
There were 2 major take-aways from this public morning meeting.
One revelation was forthcoming, which came from the FBI Director Christopher Wray who countered the White House’s version of the timeline regarding the clearance issues and the FBI’s role in the process of sharing pertinent details about Rob Porter’s troublesome history which barred him being cleared to do his job. The FBI had reviewed the background of the Staff Secretary Rob Porter before he recently resigned. Mr Wray stated for the record that the FBI sent a partial report in March 2017, followed by a completed report to the White House in July 2018. But then, there were some follow-up questions from the White House; whereupon, the FBI responded around November 2017, and then the FBI closed this file in January 2018. In February 2018, the FBI did obtain some additional data which was forwarded to the White House.
It is important to note that that the FBI does not have the power to act beyond the submission of the background checks on individuals to the president’s administration. It is incumbent upon the White House to take appropriate steps based on the FBI’s work product.
The 2nd major issue centered around the fact that all the Intelligence Chief’s agreed in unison that Russia have been and will continue to meddle in multiple ways in the US November 2018 mid-term elections. They did admit that whatever steps being taken to mitigate against this harm has not been under the direction of the White House.
Here is the rest of the story…
On February 13, 2018, Matthew Rosenberg in the New York Times penned the following report, “Russia Sees Midterm Elections As Chance To Sow Fresh Discord, Intelligence Chiefs.”
Excerpts:
“American intelligence agencies sharply disagree, and their darker view of Russia’s actions was clear on Tuesday. Mr. Coats was joined at the hearing by the leaders of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the F.B.I. and other intelligence agencies.”
“Russian hackers are already scanning American electoral systems, intelligence officials have said, and using bot armies to promote partisan causes on social media. Russia also appears eager to spread information — real and fake — that deepens political divisions, including purported evidence that ties Mr. Trump to Russia, and its efforts to influence the 2016 election.”
“We expect Russia to continue using propaganda, social media, false-flag personas, sympathetic spokespeople, and other means of influence to try to exacerbate social and political fissures in the United States,” Mr. Coats said.”
(On February 13, 2018) “The intelligence officials offered their caution during testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s annual hearing on worldwide threats, and said that Russia believes its interference in the 2016 presidential election largely achieved its chief aim — weakening faith in the American democracy. Moscow now sees the coming Congressional elections as a chance to build on its gains, they said.”
“There should be no doubt that Russia perceives its past efforts as successful and views the 2018 U.S. midterm elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations,” said Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence.”
“The warnings were striking in their contrast to President Trump’s views on Russia. He has mocked the very notion of Russian interference in the last election, and lashed out at those who have suggested otherwise. He also said that he believes denials of Russian interference issued by President Vladimir V. Putin.”
“American intelligence agencies sharply disagree, and their darker view of Russia’s actions was clear on Tuesday. Mr. Coats was joined at the hearing by the leaders of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the F.B.I. and other intelligence agencies.”
“We expect Russia to continue using propaganda, social media, false-flag personas, sympathetic spokespeople, and other means of influence to try to exacerbate social and political fissures in the United States,” Mr. Coats said”
Gronda Morin 
And yet we do little.
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Dear Cigarman501,
Welcome!
No, there is not enough being done to protect the integrity of the vote. There should be no electronic voting machines in use without it being able to leave a paper trail. There should be automatic audits to insure quality control of the machines. There are 15 states where there are electronic (DRE) machines in use that do not allow for a paper trail. This includes my state of Florida.
There is legislation S.2261 which would address this but it is floundering due to lack of support.
Hugs, Gronda
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Agree in Total
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Great to hear that our so-called “intelligence” agencies are taking preventative measures to guard against Russian meddling. Perhaps we can use our own agents to troll the internet and counter Russian manipulation of our social media!
Is it just me or does this sound absolutely juvenile, like kids teasing/ name calling each other in the schoolyard? There were Congressional meetings with FB, Twitter and Google execs, perhaps these companies could filter political comments better. However, at the expense of impeding free speech and opinion online, that would not bode well for these companies’ bottom line. No more easy ad money to profit from Russia and their proxy agents!
Unless Trump gets impeached before Nov, I don’t see much change happening with our voting process.
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Be real careful about what you wish for! Are you sure you really want Pence in the office? In some ways he is actually more dangerous than King Little Hand Donnie…
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Dear Crustyolemothman,
I would never vote for VP Pence in a million years but at least he is sane.
Hugs, Gronda
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According to the Constitution of the United States this entire administration can be impeached under these circumstances.. Every single member can be impeached right along with Trump so it’s not either/or here.
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Dear Doubledragon,
You have a valid point. Anyone who helped Donald Trump to become president, aided an abetted a man who lives in the WH but who acts, talks, and creates policies like a Russian Asset. They don’t deserve the honor of representing the peoples that they have sworn to protect.
Hugs, Gronda
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I once thought nobody on Earth could be worse than Hillary… I was wrong!
Bigotry and discrimination has no place in the land of the free. Yes Pence is
a hardline neo-con, but not an overt white supremacist. Trump has to go!
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Dear 1EarthUnited,
We don’t know what the IC Community is doing. What many of us are doing, is contacting our legislators to get them to act by creating legislation to fix this. I am calling local folks in FL to see what can be done to make sure that there are no electronic voting machines without a paper trail in Florida.
Hugs, Gronda
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Reblogged this on ravenhawks' magazine and commented:
Thanks for sharing this.
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Dear Ravenhawks’ Magazine,
This hearing was an eye opener. Thanks a million times over for all your support and for this reblog.
Hugs, Gronda
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And, the President of the United States does not want to talk about this. That speaks volumes to me.
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Dear Keith.
There are enough good peoples of all sides who are up in arms over this. The republicans are trying to sell the lie that Americans don’t really care about the Russian issue.
These republicans had better not believe their lies as it will come back to bite them.
Hugs, Gronda
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Dear Mz. Gronda,
While I do agree with you that many people on both sides of the aisle (politically) are up in arms about this situation, as long as you have a den of foxes guarding the hen house all we will end up with after the election is a bunch of foxes with feathers on their faces.. We are about 10 months away from what might be the most important election in our nations history and their is no workable plan in place to ensure the validity of our vote in that election! Much noise is being made but time is not on our side. I don’t like to say this, as I had hoped that a plan could/would be devised to provide an answer for how to audit the vote, but at this point there simply is not enough time. Please tell me how my line of reasoning is incorrect, as honestly this is one time I really want to be wrong!!
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Dear Crustyolemothman,
Even if you are 100% right, it doesn’t mean that we lay down and give up. I will never be one of those. I am calling my lawmakers pushing for passage of bill S.2261. I am calling and emailing Florida newspapers to get support to make sure that there are no electronic machines without a paper trail that will be in use in Nov. 2018.
I could sit back and say, oh it’s too late, why put myself out? I would then be part of the problem, a complainer who gets nothing done. No, thank you, as that stance is not for me.
Hugs, Gronda
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Dear Mz. Gronda,
Please realize that I am not suggesting that we lay down and simply enjoy being a victim of this action. The point that I am making is simply time is not on our side and even if we get the US congress to agree, we have a huge logistical problem in the making. Perhaps we need to demand a delay of the election until such time as the changes can be made, but I dread the thought of what that would entail… Remember we are dealing with a government that moves slower than a Sloth! I truly wish I could remain upbeat during this ordeal, much as you do, but I will admit that it is difficult for me to do so while surrounded by hungry sharks..
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Gronda, next Sarah Huckabee Sanders meeting, a reporter needs to ask – your intelligence testified under oath to the Senate Intelligence Committee….what does the President plan to do about it?
Keith
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And yet in any other time no one would have doubted Russia would have tried to do this. It’s what big nations do.
(In some small corner of the CIA’s locations there will be evidence of The USA trying something, somehow….of course it would be denied but also the Russian body politic would have made loud protests and hauled out anyone involved).
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Dear Roger,
For me there has to be a limit. It is not acceptable to have foreign hackers penetrate our voting machines where they can manipulate people’s votes. This is what I want prevented.
Hugs, Gronda
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And yet The Administration pretends, and did no one think this system was open to such an attack?
Paper Ballots are the safest.
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Dear Roger,
I concur!
Hugs, Gronda
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