Just to keep everyone up to date, here’s the latest on Donald Trump’s claim that he knows “things that other people don’t know” regarding Russia’s hacking during the election. As you recall, he promised to fill us in on Tuesday (or Wednesday), but you will be unsurprised to learn that this didn’t happen. Why? Trump claims it’s because the CIA failed to come through with the goods:
The “Intelligence” briefing on so-called “Russian hacking” was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
Very strange indeed! Needless to say, Trump is lying. The CIA briefing was scheduled for Friday all along. The New York Times reports that Trump’s tweet was posted “as senior national security officials — including the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, and the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr. — were completing plans to travel to New York on Friday to brief him about their findings.”
Of course, if this briefing is what Trump was waiting for, then he doesn’t know anything more than the rest of us about the Russian hacking. He’s just waiting until he gets briefed, at which point he will presumably announce that the last-minute dossier the CIA cobbled together is crap and he doesn’t believe it.
In related news, Trump is apparently planning to reorganize and cut back the CIA. This would be very convenient, since Trump could then say anything he wants. If the CIA leaks conflicting information, Trump can just say it’s coming from bitter executives who are angry about his budget cutbacks.
Only 16 days until this guy is president. Tick tick tick.
