From the heart of the empire, London’s The Economist magazine published an SOS on Aug. 21 over U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard’s “career-ending” move to lift the security clearance of “one of the CIA’s most senior Russia analysts … who oversaw hundreds of analysts and other personnel” in her more than 20-year career. The analyst in question is (was!) apparently so high level that The Economist did not publish the name, but it did specify that “she oversaw the production” of the 2016 report, which asserted that Russia meddled in the 2016 elections—a proven, policy-motivated lie.
The Economist, scandalized that “it often seems as if the Trump administration has little interest in containing … Russia,” featured the story in its Aug. 21 Thursday daily newsletter. The article itself is hysterical, screaming that Gabbard’s security-stripping steps “mark a sharp escalation in [President Trump’s] war on American spooks,” and “will have a chilling effect inside American spy agencies.” The reason? Without security clearances none of the analysts can work in the CIA ("even the cleaning crews have clearance"), and may not be able to find jobs as “consultants” or media “commentators.” Those still employed may hesitate to put forward the same line as the liars who have been fired, The Economist moans.
A related CBS wire followed later the same day, hysterical that Gabbard has “Barred Sharing Intelligence on Russia-Ukraine Negotiations with `Five Eyes’ Partners.” “Multiple U.S. intelligence officials,” speaking anonymously, informed CBS that DNI Gabbard issued a memo on July 20 “ordering that all information regarding the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations not be shared with U.S.-allied intelligence partners. The memo … directed agencies to not share information with the so-called Five Eyes, the post-World War II intelligence alliance comprising the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.”
The wire elaborated:
