Photograph Source by Nathaniel St. Clair

The politicization of intelligence is nothing new, but Donald Trump is finding new ways to pursue it. The United States has gone to war with phony intelligence on major occasions, including the Mexican-America War, the Spanish-American War, the Vietnam War, and the Iraq War. Too many directors of the Central Intelligence Agency have been directly involved in politicizing intelligence, including Richard Helms, James Schlesinger, William Casey, Robert Gates, David Petraeus, Mike Pompeo, George Tenet, John Brennan, and the current director John Ratcliffe.

In addition to lies justifying the use of force, such as Tenet’s “slam dunk” guarantee to provide intelligence support for invading Iraq, there were lies regarding the use of torture and abuse, including Brennan’s efforts to block the Senate Intelligence Committee from documenting the unconscionable use of torture. Various presidents have blocked the American public from seeing the SIC’s report, including President Barack Obama.

Most of the efforts involving politicization were conducted behind closed doors, but Trump’s efforts are being played out in public, and they involve virtually every member of his national security team. Last week, for example, Senator Mark Warner, the ranking member of the SIC, was blocked from visiting the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, which is part of his oversight duties. Apparently, this was caused by the caviling of a right-wing activist, Laura Loomer, who holds no position in the administration and lacks a security clearance. The trip itself was a secret one, which means someone in the Pentagon........

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