Epstein Secrets

virtual policy, it has also been more open to the media than any White House in recent memory. In the beginning, I sought a level of formal access to this White House, something of a fly-on- the-wall status. The president himself encouraged this idea. But, given the many fiefdoms in the Trump White House that came

heeding Senate leader Mitch McConnell’s prescription that “this president will sign whatever is put in front of him,” while also taking advantage of the White House’s lack of political and legislative experience and outsourcing as much policy as possible to Capitol Hill. In the early weeks of the administration, P

om he had never met before, for positions whose importance Trump did not particularly understand. Ailes, a veteran of the Nixon, Reagan, and Bush 41 White Houses, was growing worried by the president-elect’s lack of immediate focus on a White House structure that could serve and protect him. He tried to impres

cific ideas about how to turn his themes and vitriol into policy, nor a team that could reasonably unite behind him. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019969 In most White Houses, policy and action flow down, with staff trying to implement what the president wants—or, at the very least, what the chief of staff says the preside

of the Breitbart lexicon, became the Trump team term of art: he’s poked the deep state bear. Names were put to this: John Brennan, the CIA director; James Clapper, the director of national intelligence; Susan Rice, the outgoing National Security Advisor; and Ben Rhodes, Rice’s deputy and an Obama favorite. Mov

lic enemy; they expected nothing of him. But Priebus and Spicer HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_020089 they regarded as functionaries, and their job was to support the White House’s goals, which included their goals and interests. Spicer, ever ridiculed in the media for his cockamamie defense of the White House and a seeming dum

ce his exit from the White House six weeks before—he was on a crash all-sushi diet. “That building,” said his friend David Bossie, speaking about all White Houses but especially the Trump White House, “takes perfectly healthy people and turns them into old, unhealthy people.” But Bannon, who Bossie had declared

9-70, 297 Chopra, Deepak, 80 Christie, Chris, 16, 24-25, 30-31, 210, 242, 279 Christoff, Niki, 78 Churchill, Winston, 50 Circa news website, 159, 257 Clapper, James, 41, 214-15 Clinton, Bill, 23, 27, 54, 58, 90, 116, 123, 128, 158, 225, 228 impeachment of, 201, 233, 280 Clinton, Hillary, 3, 11-12, 18, 35,

y further release of information to the public." According to Politico, Walton "lamented the president's sweeping language, but said a clarification White House chief of staff Mark Meadows submitted to the court Tuesday amounted to a retraction of EFTA00148547 the tweets. ... `Obviously, when there's ever

s say." Meanwhile, CNN (10/21, Raju, Barrett, 83.16M) reports on its website, "Senate Republicans reiterated on Wednesday their stiff opposition to the White House's last-ditch effort to cut a major stimulus deal...the latest indication that passing any new relief package almost certainly will have to wait until

ed in the classified briefing he received, which emphasized a goal of general chaos." CNN (10/22, 83.16M) reports that in an appearance, former DNI James Clapper questioned the time of Ratcliffe's news conference. PROTESTS NYTimes Analysis: Meaning Of "Militia" Has Broadened. The New York Times (10/21, Mac

thirty, Ryan called the president to say he was short fifteen to twenty votes and needed to pull the vote. Bannon, backed by Mulvaney, who had become the White House’s Hill operative, continued to urge an immediate vote. A defeat here would be a major defeat for the Republican leadership. That suited Bannon just fin

ore and more seemed to be. Meanwhile, virtually everybody believed that a large measure of the fault lay in Reince Priebus, who had failed to create a White House that could protect the president from himself—or from Bannon or from his own children. At the same time, believing that the fundamental problem lay i

ting ended, Priebus and Bannon thought they had bought some breathing room. Later that day, Sally Yates and former director of National Intelligence James Clapper appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Crime and Terrorism subcommittee— and were greeted by a series of furious tweets from the president.

but seeking to contain a nuclear-armed Iran. The Israeli government, he said, recognizes that "as president of the United States, I don't bluff." The White House's choice of interviewer — Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for the magazine The Atlantic — was carefully calculated. Mr. Goldberg is closel

bility to produce a testable nuclear device in about a year and a missile-capable device in several years. But as Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the Senate Arms Services EFTA00719598 Committee on Feb. 16, it does not appear that Khamenei has made this decision. Moreover, Khamenei is

lus-update-pelosi-signals-relief-bill-could-be-far- off.html> (10/22, Pramuk, 3.62M) reports that Pelosi indicated Thursday that "while Democrats and the White House are close to reaching a coronavirus stimulus deal, it could take a lot longer to write and vote on a bill." Pelosi "plan[ned] to speak to Treasury S

rs are creating a "perception hack," meaning they want the "perception that they're inside the system, and sow distrust," according to David Sanger. Clapper said his office's "first key judgment in 2016" was that "the initial objective was to sow doubt, discord, and discontent." Clapper added that Russia

ground was about to start enriching uranium. Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says that senior White House staff asked during that time period whether Iranian regime elements might be trying to goad Israel into launching airstrikes. "The White House," Sa

ranian bomb are not the only alternatives. The judgment of the U.S. intelligence community, as voiced publicly by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, is that Iran is retaining the option to build nuclear weapons but has not yet decided to do so. Much diplomatic ground has yet to be explored in s

o-page memo "written by then-Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe outlined how former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein proposed wearing a wire in the White House 'to collect additional evidence on the president's true intentions,' and thought the scheme was plausible because 'he was not searched when he entered

orial that the transcript of the call should be released, not just to show whether Trump did anything wrong but to expose whether Biden did. Ex-DNI James Clapper said on CNN's Cuomo Prime lime (9/23, 9:12 p.m. ET, Cuomo, 1M), 'Whether there was a direct discourse here where, you know, if you don't do somethin

but seeking to contain a nuclear-armed Iran. The Israeli government, he said, recognizes that "as president of the United States, I don't bluff." The White House's choice of interviewer — Jeffrey Goldberg, a EFTA_R1_00225259 EFTA01840448 national correspondent for the magazine The Atlantic — was carefully c

bility to produce a testable nuclear device in about a year and a missile-capable device in several years. But as Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the Senate Arms Services Committee on Feb. 16, it does not appear that Khamenei has made this decision. Moreover, Khamenei is unlikely to das

tary strike against Iran has apparently not affected their preference for Obama as the next president. In fact, their views seem to partly reflect the White House's assessment of the consequences of war and the problems created by military action. Only 19 percent of Israelis polled expressed support for an at

.S. officials believe that there are at least 50 chemical weapon production and storage facilities inside Syria. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before Congress last week that the Syrian regime has maintained security at these sites, many of which are located in rural areas separa