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Tuesday, January 17

Seems to me Obama used the CIA in an attempt to prevent Trump's presidency

Former CIA and State Department analyst Larry Johnson didn't mention President Obama in his discussion last night with John Batchelor about what he believes was a CIA-led attempt at a 'soft coup' to prevent Donald Trump from taking presidential office. (Podcast of the discussion

But given Larry's description of CIA chief John Brennan as a pencil pushing brown-noser, I find it unlikely that Brennan acted according to his own lights while he served Obama or any other U.S. President. Equally unlikely in my view would be several CIA employees 'going rogue' under Brennan. 

At the same time Larry seems reluctant to place the blame at Obama's desk, and as a former CIA  insider with friends on the inside, his opinions on CIA matters must be at least considered. This is particularly so because Larry while he worked for the CIA was one of the analysts responsible for contributing to the Presidential Daily Brief. From his detailed 16 January report, Inside the Dossier Smear of Donald Trump at his No Quarter blog: 
[...]

It is very clear that these [dossier] documents were prepared and packaged for the express purpose of trying to smear Donald Trump and plant the seed of doubt regarding his political loyalties. Who would do such a thing?
Let me suggest one possibility -- U.S. and British intelligence operatives who do not want to see any easing of tensions with Russia and want to maintain the covert war in Syria against the regime of Bashar Al Assad. I am told by friends still on the inside that is exactly what is going on.
There are elements of our national intelligence apparatus, which includes senior leadership such as John Brennan and [DNI] Jim Clapper, that are colluding in trying to sabotage the Presidency of Donald Trump.
I realize that is a startling claim to make. But the evidence is pretty clear if you consider the conduct of these gentlemen. For example, Jim Clapper claimed in early October that there was “consensus” in the intelligence community about Russian interference. Yet, there was no actual written document to that effect. You can’t have “consensus” without such a document.
President Trump will need to clean house at the DNI and at CIA. There are political appointees and some career officers who have been participating in trying to foment what I call a “soft” coup. There needs to be an accounting.
I'm going to let the matter rest there, even though I have my own opinions about it, because I'm hoping that with the departure of Obama and his appointees from the American security establishment, much of the horror that characterized his presidency will vanish like a bad dream on waking. Perhaps this is a forlorn hope, but for now I'm taking Donald Trump at this word that there will be no more regime change and 'nation building' during his watch. 

However, I'll note it would be a great irony if Obama got so used to masterminding regime change operations against foreign governments that he saw nothing strange about mounting one against an incoming American president.

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