Commentary

Speaking on a panel at an event hosted by George Mason University, former acting CIA Director John McLaughlin said he was grateful for the “deep state” pushing for the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Specifically, the moderator, CBS News’ Margaret Brennan, asked: “There is something unique, you have to agree, that now that the impeachment inquiry is underway, sparked by a complaint from someone within the intelligence community, it feeds the president’s concern, an often-used term about a ‘deep state’ being there to take him out?”

McLaughlin answered, “Well, you know, thank God for the ‘deep state.’”

This refers to a subject near and dear to my heart that I have been speaking and writing about for some time.

There are still a few political extremists who will at least pay lip service, suggesting there’s no such thing as the “resistance” or “deep state,” but it’s at the very least tacitly recognized to exist by pretty much everyone and isn’t seriously debated by anyone of consequence. Some are pleased by the fact, such as McLaughlin.

The breakdown is that for the liberal mainstream media, the Democratic Party, and the never-Trump faction of the Republican Party, the deep state is something they agree with and are glad to see happening. McLaughlin underscores this state of affairs with his comments; they’re united by their hatred of the president.

On the other side of the coin, there are groups of people deeply alarmed by the existence and activities of the deep state. They’re the true American patriots who believe in and revere the U.S. Constitution, and those who support Trump and his policies and successes, or those who are just plain tired of the effluent that flows so prodigiously from Washington.

The lines are drawn and will play out in next November’s presidential elections. All the smart money from both parties say that Trump is going to win, and win big. However, this doesn’t delve into why so many people view the deep state with so much alarm.

Look at what the deep state represents: a group of nameless, unelected bureaucrats who don’t like the legally elected president of the United States and are dedicated to stopping him from doing pretty much anything and getting rid of him, if possible.

This state of affairs has evolved into an effort to actually impeach a sitting president, in what looks like a planned operation drawing from the ranks of the deep state willing to participate in such a thing.

There’s a growing body of information that suggests coordination between Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), several of Schiff’s staff members, the whistleblower, and others, long before the whistleblower complaint took place. The resulting implication is that the group decided in advance to use whistleblower laws as a method to attack Trump and were waiting for any sort of excuse to justify a whistleblower complaint. If that is indeed the case, Schiff, several of his staffers, and the whistleblower, and perhaps others, may be guilty of sedition.

Personal Ambitions

The resulting impeachment inquiry has demonstrated some other interesting elements of what is going on. Trump’s most trusted adviser, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is, for the first time, being looked at critically by the president.

Many of the high-level officials whom Pompeo put into those influential positions at the State Department are the very same individuals who have been testifying against the president during the inquiry.

Under questioning by Republicans, each and every one of the officials admitted that the president did nothing wrong or illegal. Their willingness to try to damage Trump in spite of no factual basis for doing so by their own admission is exactly the deep state. They prefer to stop Trump rather than uphold their oath of office to support the Constitution.

While Pompeo is a good person and a genuine supporter of the president, he did support, promote, and allow the deep state to prosper at both the CIA and State Department. Pompeo suffers from what ails almost every politician in Washington: he has personal onward political ambitions.

It’s widely recognized that Pompeo wants to run for president himself in 2024, which is not a bad thing in and of itself. However, as the head of the Department of State and earlier the CIA, it made no sense for him to make any attempt to get rid of the political extremists who control both agencies and bring in honest people because of the firestorm it would have created.

All politicians recognize that political firestorms of that nature would put them at the center of so much controversy that it would damage future political hopes. Trump now sees this for what it is, and it’s why he is so critical of Pompeo at this juncture.

Similarly, the U.S. military is largely controlled by its deep state cadre, as we have seen from the recent resignation of the secretary of the Navy over the president’s decision to pardon Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher.

Until recently, Trump held out hope that the Washington elites and critics would recognize and appreciate that he sincerely wants to do what is best for the United States. Now, it’s clear for the president and everyone to see, that’s not going to happen.

The leadership in all of our federal agencies is dominated by the deep state and is part of that famous swamp that Trump needs to drain.

My suggestion is to start draining the swamp that lives and thrives within the leadership of the Intelligence Community. Everyone at those levels has a full top-secret clearance and must take a polygraph exam. Immediately implement the inclusion of a question that asks if the individual believes his or her personal political beliefs are more important than supporting the U.S. Constitution.

Pull the clearance of anyone who can’t pass that question and that swamp will get much smaller. Something must be done.

Brad Johnson is a retired CIA senior operations officer and a former chief of station. He is president of Americans for Intelligence Reform.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.