Americans for Intelligence Reform

Brad Johnson, President, and retired CIA Senior Officer and Chief of Staff. Insight into current events from an intelligence angle.

Analysis of National Intelligence Strategy by retired CIA officer

For the entire transcript of this interview, please continue reading.

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all right the Director of National

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Intelligence puts out a it’s not an

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annual report it comes out every four

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years and and so this is the fourth year

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just in January and January

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twenty-second it came out the press

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release came out dan coates is the

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Director of National Intelligence and

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it’s the National Intelligence strategy

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is the actual name of the document that

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comes out every four years so it’s a

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significant document it represents all

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seventeen agencies that make up the

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intelligence community which this was

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kind of a another layer of bureaucracy

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that was created right after 9/11 during

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the Bush administration and he took what

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you know the blue ruin panel of people

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to put together what to do to increase

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security and make everything operate

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better the Director of National

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Intelligence DHS Department of Homeland

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Security here in the US all of those

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things were inventions that came out of

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this aftermath of 9/11 and it’s it’s one

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of the things that I perennial II argue

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about I mean what was actually

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accomplished by this reorganization and

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what they did was they took a bunch of

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old politicians bunch of bureaucrats you

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know like dan coates himself who was a

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u.s. congressman for a while and a u.s.

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senator and he did have some time on an

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oversight committee but that was it he

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doesn’t have any experience in

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intelligence and took people like that

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and put them on this blue-ribbon

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Commission and what what does a bunch of

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bureaucrats get together and create they

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get together and create more bureaucracy

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you know if you had wanted the United

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States and the rest of the Western world

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to be safer following 9/11 what you

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should have done is put together a

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blue-ribbon panel of operators hey I

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think you come from law enforcement and

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intelligence and military you know the

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combination would be good put together

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those operators and what are you gonna

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get you’re gonna get recommendations on

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how to do better operations and how do

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you make yourself safer against

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terrorism through operations not

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bureaucracy bureaucracies is always

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going to be an impediment it can’t be

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anything else but an impediment however

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that said what we have is this this

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every four years this report that comes

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out and really what I wanted to focus on

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is you what was covered in the press

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release the initial press release that

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came out which was a one long page

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document it wasn’t a huge thing their

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report itself is actually much longer we

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can touch on what’s in there and in

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another report but or another interview

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that we do but what I found very

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interesting is they talked about the

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2019 NIS national tub and strategy focus

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and they named four things in that dock

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in the press release as the focus of

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what this report is about and I find

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extraordinarily revealing you know from

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kind of an insider a former swamp

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dweller like myself and just looking at

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how it was stated the first two are our

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integration and innovation which it’s

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they say right in there and the press

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release you know the the the right

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information to the right people at the

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right time with the right technology all

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this to make everything run better well

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you know that’s kind of that the typical

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government response to you know how to

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write a report and then basically you

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can file that under B in your file

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cabinet for blah blah because that’s all

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that is you know we it basically says we

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want to do a really really really good

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job and that’s the essence of those

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first two things in their focus yeah

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okay but you know in government

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reporting there’s a lot of things about

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working in the government that doesn’t

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surprise anyone I’m sure but a 100 page

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report is clearly more important than a

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ten page report because it’s a hundred

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pages so that’s how these documents are

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written so there’s always a lot of basic

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filler mixed in but now the meat of it

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was added on after the filler then comes

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where the real significance is and the

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two other things mentioned that are part

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of the NIS focus are partnerships and

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transparency now for me part of what’s

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interesting out of all of this is that

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there’s been zero recording on that

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nobody has touched on it this is we I’ve

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done an op-ed on it and and and this

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this interview and probably I’ll touch

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on it hopefully some other venues as

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well but but that’s it you know nobody’s

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really touching on what those things

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mean now what it actually says is

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partnerships leveraging strong unique

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and valuable partnerships to support and

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enable

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national security outcomes transparency

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earning it up and upholding the trust

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and faith of the ICC’s customers and the

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American people okay but the real

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significance of those things like I said

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hasn’t been touched on now partnerships

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what does that mean

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now I’m my focus here is on the human

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the human intelligence aspect of it but

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that human intelligence aspect in many

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ways it’s not the only game in town

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there’s a lot of other very important

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methods of collection of information but

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a lot of it is driven by human human

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tends to be the center of these things

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it doesn’t mean that it you know creates

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all the collection but let’s just take

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an example a satellite photo photography

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and things that are from space or

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aircraft or even tapping phones and what

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safe house to look at all of those sorts

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of things are oftentimes originally

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those come from a human source a spy

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someone that through espionage we’ve

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recruited in another country to tell us

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what’s going on and he’ll say you know

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so-and-so mr. X over here at phone

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number you know one two three that guy

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is running this all this stuff over here

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so we know okay let’s go look at that

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phone number and he’ll say in his

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offices are over here and he’s stacking

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up equipment over there and we can send

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an aircraft over to take a look down and

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see what it is so as I say it sort of

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drives the engine of a lot of the other

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things that were used to collect the

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information even though it may not

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collect the information directly itself

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through the human source the spy it does

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tell us where to look to get to to

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gather that other information so very

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key to this so now partnerships what is

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what are they referring to and they say

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partnerships what they’re referring to

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are the liaison relationships that we

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have with foreign countries for example

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famously Canada most assuredly we have a

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very robust and positive relationship

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with Canadian intelligence same thing

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with England and many other countries

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there are a lot of countries that we

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have a less friendly relationship with

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China Russia Iran okay certainly North

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Korea that everyone everyone recognizes

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this is the truth but now what is our

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focus

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this report out of all the 17 agencies

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that that delve into intelligence one of

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their main concerns and focuses our

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partnerships okay again you know there’s

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nothing wrong with those partnerships

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but that shouldn’t be the focus I mean

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that should be an adjunct it should be

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part of it there’s a lot of positives

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that come out of that but when you’re

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going out and finding a spy at

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recruiting a spy through espionage

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partnerships are not espionage when

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you’re doing espionage you’re going out

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and finding a unilateral reporting

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source somebody that nobody knows is

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reporting to you nobody in the world

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knows only you know that that guy is

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telling you what he has to tell you that

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way the information is of value that can

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be trusted you can look at it now that

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source of course would have to be vetted

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you’d have to confirm that that is

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information is good but that’s how you

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get the good stuff but our focus is not

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on that our focus is on partnerships so

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you go to X service let’s just take that

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nap this is an example I’m not pulling

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from anything real but let’s just say

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you go to the Pakistanis now we have a

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relationship with the Pakistanis there

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are positive aspects to that

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relationship you go to them and say well

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we need a reporting source on X

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terrorist group for example again I’m

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just making this up but let’s say you go

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to them and say we need a reporting

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source on that there do yes sure okay

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here’s this guy now what are you getting

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what are you giving in exchange for that

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well of course it’s its money so the

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Pakistanis know that they want to give

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you somebody because they’re gonna get

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money for it so what possible motive do

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they have to really give you somebody

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any good they don’t I mean they could

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just give you their you know

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brother-in-law and say oh yeah he’s a

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reporting source on this terrorist group

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and then they feed him information and

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you give that guy money and he shares it

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with his for this family so it’s a money

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moneymaker for all of them the same

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thing for the service there’s no motive

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for them but you mean for example how

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the government of pakistan hideo-sama

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been Laden and a compound and about a

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bad for so long that’s right and they

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have they have a big mix of motives

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going on from their perspective and also

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so if you get a reporting source of that

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nature even if he actually does have

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as to what you want the Pakistani

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service knows about it now the Pakistani

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service two things one it shares

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information with other services so

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they’re just as likely to go to another

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service and say hey the Americans are

0:08:56.380,0:09:00.550
talking to that guy now and he’s giving

0:08:58.000,0:09:02.740
them information or they’re penetrated

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by another service like let’s say Iran

0:09:02.740,0:09:07.329
and Iran has a Pakistani intelligence

0:09:05.860,0:09:10.029
officer who tells them everything

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secretly he’s a spy for the Iranians and

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he tells them everything so the odds of

0:09:13.269,0:09:20.290
that guy being a pure honest uncorrupted

0:09:17.680,0:09:22.990
reporting source you know it’s pretty

0:09:20.290,0:09:24.550
love and if another service knows about

0:09:22.990,0:09:27.190
it well they can manipulate things to

0:09:24.550,0:09:28.660
fit that and feed disinformation perhaps

0:09:27.190,0:09:30.760
somehow there’s a lot of things that

0:09:28.660,0:09:32.290
they could do to use that reporting

0:09:30.760,0:09:33.730
source to their own advantage if they

0:09:32.290,0:09:36.459
know that that’s who we go to to get

0:09:33.730,0:09:39.190
information so that’s what partnerships

0:09:36.459,0:09:41.139
are and again the focus here is just is

0:09:39.190,0:09:42.880
human but this carries over into a lot

0:09:41.139,0:09:44.260
of other things as well although other

0:09:42.880,0:09:46.300
forms of collection intelligence

0:09:44.260,0:09:50.320
collections so what you have are these

0:09:46.300,0:09:53.110
partnerships that are well a useful

0:09:50.320,0:09:55.060
aspect is certainly not the goal it

0:09:53.110,0:09:56.649
shouldn’t be your focus it should be an

0:09:55.060,0:09:58.870
adjunct I mean you should be doing

0:09:56.649,0:10:00.790
everything all at the same time but now

0:09:58.870,0:10:05.110
it brings us to that fourth point which

0:10:00.790,0:10:07.930
is transparency so the the focus of the

0:10:05.110,0:10:10.480
left has always been that espionage is

0:10:07.930,0:10:12.579
an evil that shouldn’t be accepted after

0:10:10.480,0:10:14.500
the fall of the Soviet Union there was a

0:10:12.579,0:10:16.810
huge push by the Democrats and Congress

0:10:14.500,0:10:18.519
to get rid of the CIA disbanded it was

0:10:16.810,0:10:20.980
no longer needed and and that’s through

0:10:18.519,0:10:23.110
history but all through the existence of

0:10:20.980,0:10:25.690
the CIA’s repeated they popped up and

0:10:23.110,0:10:28.740
and this is finally what was what was it

0:10:25.690,0:10:32.170
was implemented and and why so

0:10:28.740,0:10:33.010
transparency can now exist because as

0:10:32.170,0:10:36.399
we’ve talked about in previous

0:10:33.010,0:10:38.620
interviews former CIA director John

0:10:36.399,0:10:41.139
Brennan implemented the modernization of

0:10:38.620,0:10:44.769
the CIA in which he disbanded the

0:10:41.139,0:10:47.470
Operations Directorate which was where

0:10:44.769,0:10:49.089
espionage took place and he just created

0:10:47.470,0:10:50.680
all the centers and so on this is all

0:10:49.089,0:10:53.350
public information was talked about and

0:10:50.680,0:10:55.569
then he went on an MPR interview and

0:10:53.350,0:10:57.050
talked about how the CIA no longer does

0:10:55.569,0:10:59.510
espionage well see that

0:10:57.050,0:11:02.899
all trip oh that’s that’s the problem so

0:10:59.510,0:11:05.420
if you’re not doing espionage going to a

0:11:02.899,0:11:07.610
partnership partner like book Pakistani

0:11:05.420,0:11:08.990
example I was using earlier and asking

0:11:07.610,0:11:11.570
them to give you a reporting source

0:11:08.990,0:11:14.390
that’s not illegal that’s not illegal by

0:11:11.570,0:11:16.279
anybody’s laws so you can therefore have

0:11:14.390,0:11:17.329
transparency because you’re not breaking

0:11:16.279,0:11:19.490
the law you’re not doing anything

0:11:17.329,0:11:21.950
illegal so that’s with us that’s that

0:11:19.490,0:11:24.649
the supreme importance

0:11:21.950,0:11:26.390
it’s a degradation of our capability but

0:11:24.649,0:11:28.760
it’s supremely important that that

0:11:26.390,0:11:31.760
that’s the focus of our national

0:11:28.760,0:11:34.100
security strategy is partnerships and

0:11:31.760,0:11:38.660
transparency avoid doing anything

0:11:34.100,0:11:41.060
illegal to collect intelligence in order

0:11:38.660,0:11:45.290
to satisfy this sort of philosophical

0:11:41.060,0:11:47.600
whim of not breaking laws and like I

0:11:45.290,0:11:49.730
said they describe the problem the

0:11:47.600,0:11:50.839
essence of that problem is that you’re

0:11:49.730,0:11:52.820
no longer getting the very best

0:11:50.839,0:11:54.829
intelligence you’re no longer getting

0:11:52.820,0:11:56.720
intelligence you can really trust all

0:11:54.829,0:11:58.310
you’re doing is you’re paying money and

0:11:56.720,0:12:00.110
you’re getting what they say they’re

0:11:58.310,0:12:02.630
giving you you know for whatever reason

0:12:00.110,0:12:05.630
and I guarantee you a lot of those cases

0:12:02.630,0:12:07.760
are just lies made up by the by the guys

0:12:05.630,0:12:09.020
because they want the money and it could

0:12:07.760,0:12:11.600
be the service or it could be the

0:12:09.020,0:12:14.180
individual but all in all again like I

0:12:11.600,0:12:16.690
say what is their motive to ever come

0:12:14.180,0:12:19.520
through and give you something good

0:12:16.690,0:12:20.570
there isn’t one it’s just the only

0:12:19.520,0:12:22.970
reason they’re doing what they’re doing

0:12:20.570,0:12:25.490
is because they want the money and so

0:12:22.970,0:12:27.410
the only way you do this unilaterally

0:12:25.490,0:12:30.140
only one is it controlled and maintained

0:12:27.410,0:12:32.540
and carefully orchestrated by for

0:12:30.140,0:12:34.060
example in this case the CIA does this

0:12:32.540,0:12:36.700
making sense you get real information

0:12:34.060,0:12:39.770
that you can trust and count on and use

0:12:36.700,0:12:42.829
to inform the president and our policy

0:12:39.770,0:12:45.079
makers and so now we’ve gone astray I’m

0:12:42.829,0:12:46.940
bringing out all of the stuff this is

0:12:45.079,0:12:50.000
the essence of what now gets reported

0:12:46.940,0:12:51.860
back up in the briefings that take place

0:12:50.000,0:12:53.510
up on the hill into the present so on

0:12:51.860,0:12:54.170
and it’s based on all this stuff that’s

0:12:53.510,0:12:55.699
nonsense

0:12:54.170,0:12:57.470
or a large percentage of it it’s

0:12:55.699,0:12:59.390
nonsense I’m sure there’s currents of

0:12:57.470,0:13:01.970
truth sprinkled in through there too but

0:12:59.390,0:13:04.100
taken as a whole this is where the

0:13:01.970,0:13:07.670
national intelligence he’s just going

0:13:04.100,0:13:09.829
down the toilet you know it seems to me

0:13:07.670,0:13:10.990
that over the last several years I’ve

0:13:09.829,0:13:15.980
seen appalled

0:13:10.990,0:13:19.760
where the United States and many Western

0:13:15.980,0:13:21.770
nations actually have been confusing law

0:13:19.760,0:13:24.200
and order with military and I guess you

0:13:21.770,0:13:27.560
could also say intelligence directives

0:13:24.200,0:13:30.080
and even to the point where as I recall

0:13:27.560,0:13:33.950
under Obama they were reading Miranda

0:13:30.080,0:13:37.190
rights to to Taliban the dead captured

0:13:33.950,0:13:39.920
which seems to me to be a formula for a

0:13:37.190,0:13:42.320
loss I mean you can’t confuse law and

0:13:39.920,0:13:44.000
order issues with military or

0:13:42.320,0:13:47.900
intelligence bonds

0:13:44.000,0:13:49.460
the guy who robs the corner store is not

0:13:47.900,0:13:51.200
motivated by the same thing and the

0:13:49.460,0:13:53.800
consequence of dealing with it is

0:13:51.200,0:13:56.000
different than the guy who was a

0:13:53.800,0:13:57.740
political ambition and is waging

0:13:56.000,0:14:00.110
terrorism and what you’re describing

0:13:57.740,0:14:03.760
sounds an awful lot like they’re now

0:14:00.110,0:14:05.480
systemically confusing those two issues

0:14:03.760,0:14:08.240
that’s precisely right

0:14:05.480,0:14:11.290
that is exactly another aspect of this

0:14:08.240,0:14:17.270
same problem that I’m describing and

0:14:11.290,0:14:20.540
unfortunately this this is it’s a small

0:14:17.270,0:14:22.850
of world in intelligence the operations

0:14:20.540,0:14:24.710
of intelligence not so much the analysis

0:14:22.850,0:14:26.540
but the operations in the collection

0:14:24.710,0:14:29.300
where the where you get the information

0:14:26.540,0:14:31.100
is a small world and misunderstood by

0:14:29.300,0:14:33.170
almost everybody a lot of people think

0:14:31.100,0:14:35.510
they know a lot of people you know claim

0:14:33.170,0:14:37.700
to know and all of these things like dan

0:14:35.510,0:14:39.740
coates now dan coates I think is a fine

0:14:37.700,0:14:41.330
gentleman you know he used us a set of

0:14:39.740,0:14:45.110
congressman a senator for many years I

0:14:41.330,0:14:46.490
don’t I’m not critical of him per se but

0:14:45.110,0:14:48.110
I’m critical of the fact that he was

0:14:46.490,0:14:50.450
selected to be in charge for national

0:14:48.110,0:14:52.040
security if you look at the pentagon you

0:14:50.450,0:14:53.750
know how often do people get picked out

0:14:52.040,0:14:55.820
of out of the pentagon to run the whole

0:14:53.750,0:14:59.450
show that are just like some former

0:14:55.820,0:15:01.670
bureaucrat you know that ran you know or

0:14:59.450,0:15:04.190
had an office in the senate so he’s on a

0:15:01.670,0:15:05.870
military Oversight Committee of some

0:15:04.190,0:15:07.550
sort you know the budget and so on does

0:15:05.870,0:15:09.620
that does that mean he should be running

0:15:07.550,0:15:11.660
the war machine at the Pentagon it does

0:15:09.620,0:15:14.540
not and that’s not you picked to fill

0:15:11.660,0:15:16.910
that slot the same thing goes for the

0:15:14.540,0:15:18.890
FBI you don’t tend to see people go into

0:15:16.910,0:15:21.650
the leadership be that the head of the

0:15:18.890,0:15:23.480
FBI or DOJ for that matter

0:15:21.650,0:15:26.630
that don’t come out of that background

0:15:23.480,0:15:29.300
would you pick a non-lawyer non law

0:15:26.630,0:15:31.670
enforcement guy to be head of FBI or DHA

0:15:29.300,0:15:33.290
well no and it just doesn’t it’s very

0:15:31.670,0:15:35.450
rare for anything of that nature to

0:15:33.290,0:15:37.640
happen but intelligence it’s always that

0:15:35.450,0:15:39.500
way it’s there’s never anybody in charge

0:15:37.640,0:15:41.150
of intelligence very rare that there’s

0:15:39.500,0:15:43.250
anybody charge of intelligence it

0:15:41.150,0:15:44.810
actually comes out of that background

0:15:43.250,0:15:47.060
has ever run an operation in their lives

0:15:44.810,0:15:49.280
so you’ve got a guy like Dan Coates and

0:15:47.060,0:15:52.520
I said again I said no no real criticism

0:15:49.280,0:15:54.950
of him per se but he doesn’t know he

0:15:52.520,0:15:56.360
just doesn’t understand I think if he

0:15:54.950,0:15:57.530
were to listen to this and heard what I

0:15:56.360,0:15:59.240
just said of it he I mean he probably

0:15:57.530,0:16:01.490
think it’s crazy because he doesn’t know

0:15:59.240,0:16:03.110
enough to judge he has no background in

0:16:01.490,0:16:05.030
it being on an intelligence Oversight

0:16:03.110,0:16:06.620
Committee all that does is let you read

0:16:05.030,0:16:08.990
some intelligence so you’re a consumer

0:16:06.620,0:16:10.760
you’re not a producer and there’s a big

0:16:08.990,0:16:13.100
difference between those two things so

0:16:10.760,0:16:14.420
how are you the one to decide how

0:16:13.100,0:16:15.890
production should be handled if you’ve

0:16:14.420,0:16:17.270
never done in your life and probably

0:16:15.890,0:16:18.320
don’t even know anybody that’s ever done

0:16:17.270,0:16:20.270
it in their life because they don’t talk

0:16:18.320,0:16:21.440
to people like me that are the guys that

0:16:20.270,0:16:25.700
have actually done this stuff for

0:16:21.440,0:16:28.760
decades so but yes absolutely the way

0:16:25.700,0:16:30.140
law enforcement has been sort of given

0:16:28.760,0:16:32.300
the heavy lifting in a lot of these

0:16:30.140,0:16:34.460
things is a precise reflection of that

0:16:32.300,0:16:36.170
they’ve the Obama administration in

0:16:34.460,0:16:38.390
particular not the Trump administration

0:16:36.170,0:16:41.360
in this case but the bomb administration

0:16:38.390,0:16:43.460
tried to make terrorism a legal problem

0:16:41.360,0:16:44.900
and again something you know for law

0:16:43.460,0:16:46.070
enforcement which is again something

0:16:44.900,0:16:48.950
we’ve talked about in different

0:16:46.070,0:16:51.140
references a number of times but the

0:16:48.950,0:16:53.240
initial Fort Hood attack that’s one of

0:16:51.140,0:16:55.130
the reasons it was called a workplace

0:16:53.240,0:16:56.990
violence incident versus a terrorist

0:16:55.130,0:16:58.700
attack because then you just put the guy

0:16:56.990,0:17:00.650
into the court system and he gets

0:16:58.700,0:17:02.660
convicted for murder or whatever the

0:17:00.650,0:17:05.510
whatever the various crimes are that

0:17:02.660,0:17:07.580
he’s committed and it’s taken care of

0:17:05.510,0:17:09.800
all neat and sweet and and there’s and

0:17:07.580,0:17:11.390
there’s no there’s no pieces hanging out

0:17:09.800,0:17:13.340
over the edge and no need to go off and

0:17:11.390,0:17:14.600
do something else because the president

0:17:13.340,0:17:16.970
under President Obama they didn’t want

0:17:14.600,0:17:18.620
to face the central underlying issues of

0:17:16.970,0:17:20.480
these things but that’s exactly right

0:17:18.620,0:17:22.910
that’s why they started to get into

0:17:20.480,0:17:24.740
Miranda rights for captured warriors I

0:17:22.910,0:17:27.050
mean just imagine in world war two every

0:17:24.740,0:17:28.880
captured German or or Japanese soldiers

0:17:27.050,0:17:30.470
you rot you’re in their Miranda rights

0:17:28.880,0:17:32.990
and bring back in the United States and

0:17:30.470,0:17:35.390
try them in court I mean it’s just

0:17:32.990,0:17:37.850
insanity and it’s just it’s all based

0:17:35.390,0:17:40.400
ignorance and it’s all based on leftist

0:17:37.850,0:17:42.710
philosophy and again the underlying

0:17:40.400,0:17:46.040
bottom-line problem out of all of that

0:17:42.710,0:17:48.350
is it’s such a degradation of our

0:17:46.040,0:17:50.090
capability to collect intelligence to

0:17:48.350,0:17:51.920
know what our enemies are planning and

0:17:50.090,0:17:53.840
what their intense are that it’s very

0:17:51.920,0:17:55.700
dangerous and it’s oh it’s been getting

0:17:53.840,0:17:57.440
people killed for already for a very

0:17:55.700,0:17:59.750
long time and more people are going to

0:17:57.440,0:18:01.700
die by because of these sorts of

0:17:59.750,0:18:04.309
decisions and it’s a something that

0:18:01.700,0:18:06.080
unfortunately even in the current

0:18:04.309,0:18:07.910
administration President Trump is not

0:18:06.080,0:18:09.860
surrounded by people that understand

0:18:07.910,0:18:11.600
this well enough to act on it and the

0:18:09.860,0:18:14.470
ones that he is surrounded by again are

0:18:11.600,0:18:17.210
from this leftist philosophy that that

0:18:14.470,0:18:19.460
like take Gina has well for example she

0:18:17.210,0:18:21.620
was an acolyte of and close to John

0:18:19.460,0:18:23.750
Brennan John Brennan was the one that

0:18:21.620,0:18:26.210
implemented this this this philosophy

0:18:23.750,0:18:27.380
that says espionage is bad now we’re

0:18:26.210,0:18:30.740
doing it through these other means

0:18:27.380,0:18:32.419
through our partners and you haven’t

0:18:30.740,0:18:34.370
seen her turn it around having she is

0:18:32.419,0:18:36.500
not criticizing it and she’s career

0:18:34.370,0:18:38.330
she’s a career person so she knows

0:18:36.500,0:18:39.860
better but doesn’t agree with it

0:18:38.330,0:18:41.960
philosophically so she lets this go

0:18:39.860,0:18:43.460
forward so it’s it’s a it’s a real

0:18:41.960,0:18:44.929
problem like I said it’s gotten people

0:18:43.460,0:18:47.840
killed it’s going to get people killed

0:18:44.929,0:18:50.120
and and hopefully there won’t be another

0:18:47.840,0:18:52.040
9/11 as a result of just not getting her

0:18:50.120,0:18:53.510
head out of the hole in the sand I was

0:18:52.040,0:18:57.290
gonna say something worse but I’ll stick

0:18:53.510,0:19:01.400
with that sand and Brad I hate to ask

0:18:57.290,0:19:04.130
this but I just got to ask is is there

0:19:01.400,0:19:07.640
any way that this incredible sort of

0:19:04.130,0:19:09.470
reshaping of the organization of the

0:19:07.640,0:19:12.049
various intelligence agencies is it in

0:19:09.470,0:19:15.470
any way connected to the endless and

0:19:12.049,0:19:18.350
pointless Trump Russia investigation

0:19:15.470,0:19:22.700
that was clearly based on manufactured

0:19:18.350,0:19:25.160
file well I would answer them the

0:19:22.700,0:19:28.880
typical went elegent fashion I yes I

0:19:25.160,0:19:31.970
would say well yes and no yes I mean I

0:19:28.880,0:19:33.740
think part of that the this this thing

0:19:31.970,0:19:35.960
that I’m describing is a type of

0:19:33.740,0:19:36.950
corruption now it’s not the type of

0:19:35.960,0:19:38.419
corruption where it’s a commercial

0:19:36.950,0:19:40.910
corruption we’re going out and getting

0:19:38.419,0:19:42.650
paid money for it or so on but that type

0:19:40.910,0:19:45.110
of corruption has existed in some degree

0:19:42.650,0:19:47.059
as well if you look at the AG reports

0:19:45.110,0:19:48.010
that have been done on the FBI some of

0:19:47.059,0:19:50.290
these FBI

0:19:48.010,0:19:52.270
that were all part of the Spicer report

0:19:50.290,0:19:54.880
and request that came out were getting

0:19:52.270,0:19:56.740
payoffs from reporters

0:19:54.880,0:19:58.540
now payoff wasn’t in the form of like

0:19:56.740,0:20:00.340
okay here’s a thousand dollars in cash

0:19:58.540,0:20:03.250
under the table but it was a thing

0:20:00.340,0:20:05.230
getting invited to very difficult to get

0:20:03.250,0:20:07.000
into advance that word expensive to buy

0:20:05.230,0:20:10.270
the tickets and so on so we’re given

0:20:07.000,0:20:12.610
things of value now those can be illegal

0:20:10.270,0:20:14.380
or against regulations and two different

0:20:12.610,0:20:16.000
degrees depending but that’s clear

0:20:14.380,0:20:21.300
corruption and nothing was done about it

0:20:16.000,0:20:25.210
by the way and so you have this

0:20:21.300,0:20:26.920
atmosphere of this type of political

0:20:25.210,0:20:30.310
corruption where these things can go

0:20:26.920,0:20:32.680
forward and then that got melded into

0:20:30.310,0:20:34.810
this political hatred of Trump I think

0:20:32.680,0:20:39.280
the driving force of it is this hatred

0:20:34.810,0:20:42.190
by the the left for conservativism

0:20:39.280,0:20:45.610
mainly but Trump really in particular

0:20:42.190,0:20:47.590
now because he’s not part of the you

0:20:45.610,0:20:50.050
know anointed ones out of the swamp who

0:20:47.590,0:20:53.380
are self declared to be the leadership

0:20:50.050,0:20:55.030
for life of the United States so they

0:20:53.380,0:20:56.790
hate him in particular and that’s where

0:20:55.030,0:20:58.900
you saw those two things just happen

0:20:56.790,0:21:00.670
serendipitously from their perspective

0:20:58.900,0:21:02.980
to come together you have this kind of

0:21:00.670,0:21:05.710
political corruption at DOJ and FBI in

0:21:02.980,0:21:07.510
particular where that got combined up

0:21:05.710,0:21:09.340
with the Hillary Clinton campaign and

0:21:07.510,0:21:11.560
they took a look at it and said hey we

0:21:09.340,0:21:13.050
can put this together and go after the

0:21:11.560,0:21:15.490
Republicans in general and Trump

0:21:13.050,0:21:18.520
specifically and that’s where you then

0:21:15.490,0:21:20.770
saw for example the FISA requests that

0:21:18.520,0:21:22.750
went to the FISA Court judge who signed

0:21:20.770,0:21:26.620
off on it now just for example out of

0:21:22.750,0:21:28.120
that those were signed by FBI and DOJ

0:21:26.620,0:21:31.210
leadership and what’s happened to those

0:21:28.120,0:21:33.280
people they lot knowingly lied on the on

0:21:31.210,0:21:35.860
the affidavit that they had to sign when

0:21:33.280,0:21:37.210
they turned in the FISA requests stating

0:21:35.860,0:21:37.990
that they believed everything to be true

0:21:37.210,0:21:40.300
that was in there

0:21:37.990,0:21:41.890
what’s that judge done nothing you know

0:21:40.300,0:21:44.530
what’s anybody doing about it nothing

0:21:41.890,0:21:46.750
you know at the very least there are

0:21:44.530,0:21:49.000
some there are some legal violations

0:21:46.750,0:21:53.350
there but and some regulatory violations

0:21:49.000,0:21:54.820
there and nobody’s doing it so yes hey

0:21:53.350,0:21:58.320
there’s the atmosphere that was the

0:21:54.820,0:22:03.010
place mine with this money

0:21:58.320,0:22:04.540
but and separate origins yeah I mean

0:22:03.010,0:22:06.430
it’s it’s there’s there’s a lot of ways

0:22:04.540,0:22:08.590
you could describe the you know the

0:22:06.430,0:22:10.900
pointy end of the spear or the where the

0:22:08.590,0:22:12.220
where the frontline battles take place

0:22:10.900,0:22:13.540
if you will there’s there’s different

0:22:12.220,0:22:15.460
circumstances where it would be

0:22:13.540,0:22:18.010
different people and you know certainly

0:22:15.460,0:22:19.750
the Marine Corps as a famous is famously

0:22:18.010,0:22:21.400
staying you know first to fight so on so

0:22:19.750,0:22:23.050
I mean you can certainly describe them

0:22:21.400,0:22:25.270
as a frontline of Defense and having our

0:22:23.050,0:22:27.130
bases and people posted overseas again

0:22:25.270,0:22:30.550
that’s all part of the front line of

0:22:27.130,0:22:32.910
defense but anyone who I think consider

0:22:30.550,0:22:35.020
for a moment that human intelligence the

0:22:32.910,0:22:37.000
espionage collection of information

0:22:35.020,0:22:39.400
through issue espionage mainly led by

0:22:37.000,0:22:41.980
the CIA but others as well get involved

0:22:39.400,0:22:43.330
to one degree or another you know anyone

0:22:41.980,0:22:44.920
who would discount that as part of the

0:22:43.330,0:22:46.510
front line of Defense’s just doesn’t

0:22:44.920,0:22:48.430
know enough about it to judge it’s

0:22:46.510,0:22:50.230
clearly an important factor of it and

0:22:48.430,0:22:51.670
you can go back and find references in

0:22:50.230,0:22:53.770
the Bible you know from thousands of

0:22:51.670,0:22:56.140
years ago of how intelligence played a

0:22:53.770,0:22:58.060
key role in the outcome of events that

0:22:56.140,0:22:59.470
were very important and it’s just one of

0:22:58.060,0:23:00.700
those things that’s that’s always been

0:22:59.470,0:23:03.400
here and it’s always going to be here

0:23:00.700,0:23:04.900
and so we in the United States as far as

0:23:03.400,0:23:07.600
I know we’re the only country in the

0:23:04.900,0:23:08.890
world that really doesn’t aggressively

0:23:07.600,0:23:14.080
get out and play in the field of

0:23:08.890,0:23:16.570
espionage anymore well probably most of

0:23:14.080,0:23:18.190
our good friends with intelligence are

0:23:16.570,0:23:19.840
operating against us and every single

0:23:18.190,0:23:21.400
one of our enemies is operating against

0:23:19.840,0:23:23.220
their you know we’re the ones that kind

0:23:21.400,0:23:25.420
of sit back go you know we work through

0:23:23.220,0:23:27.970
transparency transparency and our

0:23:25.420,0:23:29.710
partnerships so now there’s some claims

0:23:27.970,0:23:31.780
in the background that it’s going on I

0:23:29.710,0:23:33.580
mean I would love to sit down with the

0:23:31.780,0:23:35.110
Senate Oversight Committee to say okay

0:23:33.580,0:23:37.660
this is what you’re being told here’s

0:23:35.110,0:23:39.220
the truth yet huh and I can go through a

0:23:37.660,0:23:41.350
list of things like that to make image

0:23:39.220,0:23:44.860
not on things appropriate for an open

0:23:41.350,0:23:46.600
venue here but there you know these guys

0:23:44.860,0:23:47.830
are just being lied to up the line and

0:23:46.600,0:23:50.380
they don’t know any better like I said

0:23:47.830,0:23:52.120
if i sat down with Dan Cox I could sell

0:23:50.380,0:23:53.830
him you know all sorts of stuff that

0:23:52.120,0:23:56.100
weren’t that wasn’t true because how

0:23:53.830,0:23:56.100
would he know

0:24:25.840,0:24:29.799
[Music]

0:24:26.720,0:24:29.799
[Applause]

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