'CIA liaison is first casualty of conflict between intelligence agency and Trump'
Cohen-Watnick was a junior case officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he caught the eye of Michael Flynn, the ex-DIA director and first national security adviser to Trump. When Flynn came to the White House, Cohen-Watnick was among the Flynn deputies whom career national security staff came to view as a clique – derisively known in intelligence circles as the “Flynnstones”. For their part, the so-called Flynnstones viewed the career staff as Obama loyalists, and excluded many of them from national security decision-making.
“They hate him. They absolutely despise him,” a former senior intelligence official said of the CIA’s view of Cohen-Watnick.
The former senior intelligence official said Cohen-Watnick had committed “serious protocol violations”. Among them were appearing to take responsibilities for certain covert programs away from the CIA and communicating with lower-level intelligence officials outside of established channels that ensure intelligence chiefs and deputies are aware of White House requests and concerns.
But it may be an unsteady equilibrium, particularly as the inquiries into Russia progress. Cohen-Watnick remains in his job.
Projection.
Pattern.
The democrats are telling on themselves to try to inoculate the norms against what is coming out...more this week.
This is starting to look like one of the late scenes in
Reign of Fire.
Dragons flying around everywhere attacking each other til the are all dead except the head dragon.