SUBSTACK | PUBLIC | MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER, MATT TAIBBI, AND ALEX GUTENTAG | FEBRUARY 14, 2024

PHOTO | FBI DIRECTORY CHRISTOPHER WRAY (LEFT), FORMER CIA DIRECTOR GINA HASPEL (CENTER), AND FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DAN COATS (RIGHT), TESTIFY AT A SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE ON JANUARY 29, 2019 | CREDIT: WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES

Former CIA Director Gina Haspel blocked the release of “binder” with evidence that may identify her role in the Trump-Russia collusion hoax

Last December 15th, as Americans decorated trees, lit Menorahs, and prepared to tune out for winter holidays, CNN ran an extraordinary article titled, “The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump.”

Co-authored by Natasha Bertrand, the gargantuan exposé claimed a mysterious “binder” of “highly classified information related to Russian election interference” went “missing” in the chaotic waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency in January 2021, raising concerns that some of America’s most “closely guarded national security secrets… could be exposed.”

CNN and its intelligence sources meant “exposure” in a bad way. Sources have told Public and Racket, however, that the secrets officials worry might be “exposed” are ones that would implicate them in widespread abuses of intelligence authority dating back to the 2015-2016 election season.

“I would call [the binder] Trump’s insurance policy,” said someone knowledgeable about the case. “He was very concerned about having it and taking it with him because it was the road map” of Russiagate.

Transgressions range from Justice Department surveillance of domestic political targets without probable cause to the improper unmasking of a pre-election conversation between a Trump official and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to WMD-style manipulation of intelligence for public reports on alleged Russian “influence activities.”

The CNN report claimed intelligence officials were concerned about the disclosure of “sources and methods that informed the U.S. government’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the 2016 election.”

They should be concerned. The story of how a team “hand-picked” by CIA Director John Brennan relied on “cooked intelligence” to craft that January 6th, 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment is the subject of tomorrow’s story, the last in this three-part series.

Corruption, not tradecraft, is what officials are desperate to keep secret.

The ”missing binder” story has several variants. Sources offer differing answers on the question of whether anything of consequence is missing. They give mixed accounts of Trump’s frantic last efforts to declassify Russia-related material.

But nearly everyone Public and Racket spoke to agreed that the tale obscured a broader and more important story.

Dating back to the release of the so-called “Nunes memo” in 2018 exposing the corruption of the FISA application process, senior intelligence officials, including Trump’s CIA Director, Gina Haspel, have repeatedly blocked attempts to declassify information about the Trump-Russia investigation.

They had good reason to obstruct the release of these documents.

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FULL ARTICLE SUMMARY BY COPY.AI :

Former CIA Director Gina Haspel reportedly blocked the release of a “binder” containing evidence that could potentially identify her role in the Trump-Russia collusion investigation. The “missing binder” story, which gained attention in a CNN article, raised concerns about the exposure of classified information related to Russian election interference. However, sources suggest that the information in the binder could implicate officials in intelligence abuses dating back to the 2015-2016 election period. These transgressions include surveillance without probable cause, improper unmasking of conversations, and manipulation of intelligence reports. The CIA had allegedly conducted an illegal spy operation against Trump’s campaign in 2016, using illegally acquired intelligence to justify the FBI’s official probe and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. The documents in question are said to contain information about the legal justification for these investigations, which, if made public, could implicate numerous officials in serious abuses. Officials blocking the release of these documents are reportedly motivated by fear for their reputations and careers rather than national security concerns.

Last Updated on March 1, 2024 by Real KBrett