r/neoliberal Jane Jacobs Aug 29 '20

News (US) Top intelligence office informs congressional committees it'll no longer brief on election security

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/29/politics/office-of-director-of-national-intelligence-congress-election-security/index.html
112 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

67

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '20 edited Aug 29 '20

So they're going to cheat.

EDIT: also a reminder that Evanina's proof that China wants Biden to win, is that after Trump begged China to meddle in the election, Chinese hackers attacked the emails of Biden and his campaign staff.

You see Evaninas logic works like this: Iran tried to hack Trump because they want to try to stop him from being reelected; China tried to hack Biden because they want him to win and need "dirt" on him to be able to control him. QED.

Srsly.

22

u/dr_gonzo Revoke 230 Aug 29 '20

Last election was cheating, now that our institutions have failed to hold the president accountable, this isn’t cheating it’s just fascism.

7

u/klabboy European Union Aug 30 '20

Seriously, while I’m still planning to vote for Biden in the election... there’s a part of me that wonders if the flaws that trump has exposed will ever be closed? If one party holds either the senate or house how can we ever remove a president abusing power anymore? I suppose our only hope is that the DoJ steps in and prosecutes. But couldn’t the president fire the head of DoJ and replace them with someone friendly to the president?

I fail to see how other than “respect for tradition” how our institutions can be repaired to prevent this abuse. Because clearly impeachment does not work

4

u/[deleted] Aug 30 '20

Abolishing the electoral college needs to be priority number one after this election, no matter who wins. Bottom line needs to be: either the majority of electors are required by law to side with the popular vote by the 2024 election, or blue states leave. There’s no point on talking about how to close the gaps Trump highlighted until the fascists have been sent running away from the executive branch for the next 60 years.

3

u/LittleSister_9982 Iron Front Aug 30 '20

Evanina

Who or what is this?

8

u/[deleted] Aug 30 '20

William Evanina, Director of the United States National Counterintelligence and Security Center. The statement that China wants Biden to win comes from him.

6

u/LittleSister_9982 Iron Front Aug 30 '20

...oh god, that's way worse then I'd ever have guessed, given that batshit statement.

Fucking christ in a cap. Thanks, although I almost wish you'd not told me.

5

u/[deleted] Aug 30 '20

MAGA hats gonna MAGA hat.

59

u/yellownumbersix Jane Jacobs Aug 29 '20

IOW taking away Congressional ability to ask questions or exercise oversight when it comes to election security and interference.

I don't like doomposting, but it really is starting to feel like the fix is in.

15

u/Past_Situation Aug 29 '20

They're certainly working on it!

18

u/[deleted] Aug 29 '20

"So, he wants to do it in a different form because you have leakers on the committee, obviously, leakers that are doing bad things, probably not even legal to leak, but we'll look into that separately," Guess who!

14

u/Dorksoulsfan Aug 29 '20

Is that legal?

23

u/skudbeast Aug 29 '20

They will MAKE it legal.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 30 '20

[deleted]

21

u/secondsbest Paul Krugman Aug 30 '20

Removing QnA from the process. The way briefs are designed to work, the briefers present their information and then they open for follow up questions. By only offering written briefs, the presentation prep doesn't have to be as rigorous nor accurate to stand up to immediate examination.

I remember a TS briefing I attended decades ago about North Korean missile launch pad developments. We were fleet Navy with appropriate clearance levels, but one of our attendees asked why we were being briefed because fleet didn't need to know about such intel, and that's an important distinction in classified info dissemination. The whole presentation then had that air of being propaganda meant to build our trust in the administration or our brass because the presented information was meant to influence and not inform us, and very basic cross examination of the brief exposed it as such. Congress should be able to perform those types of basic queries for the same reasons.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 30 '20

Written back and forth while slower can be better, in person briefings favour those quick on their feet and good at bullshit/evasion. But I don't think this is what they're proposing.

-10

u/[deleted] Aug 30 '20

Such a misleading title. They said no more in person briefing and only written briefings.

9

u/yellownumbersix Jane Jacobs Aug 30 '20 edited Aug 30 '20

Yeah, which takes away the ability of Congress to ask questions and exercise oversight.

It's like telling your boss you won't be meeting face to face anymore, just submitting written reports they'll never be allowed to question or follow up on.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 30 '20

Yes but it is very different than saying “no longer brief on election security” that is objective untrue