RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
July 29 to Aug. 4
Featured Investigation
Paradox alert: President Trump has been under federal investigation for more than two years, often by agents hostile to him -- and his critics think he's the one politicizing the intelligence community. Reason: He's threatening to strip the security clearances of outspoken former top officials John Brennan and James Clapper.
But as Lee Smith reports for RealClearInvestigations, numerous past and present senior intelligence officials say it was the Obama administration that started the politicization -- and they argue that revoking the clearances of those who abuse their access for partisan purposes might help right the ship of "deep state":
Some sources say former CIA director Brennan, ex-director of national intelligence Clapper and others with security clearances were emboldened to pursue political agendas through the anti-Trump media, in a climate of impunity created by the Justice Department’s failure to prosecute leaks attending Donald Trump’s election. Notable among the leaks, they said, was a top unnamed official’s “unmasking” of Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn in a January 2017 Washington Post column by David Ignatius, sourced to classified intercepts of Flynn’s contacts with the Russian ambassador. Leaking such classified information is a felony.
"The very people who are now talking the most know the details of how the Flynn intercept was leaked," a senior U.S. official told RealClearInvestigations. "They wouldn't be out talking like that if they'd been interviewed by the FBI."
The Trump Investigations: Top Articles
Trump Donor Agreed to Pay Cohen $10M for Nuke Project Push, Wall Street Journal
Manafort Trial Exposes Culture of Foreign Lobbying, New York Times
Mueller: Probe Tony Podesta and Vin Weber as Foreign Agents, CNN
Facebook Finds Fake Accounts Ahead of Midterms, Washington Post
QAnon Explained: Web Conspiracy Theory That Showed Up at Trump Rally, NY Times
Whatever Happened to the 'Unmaskings' Probe? Sharyl Attkisson, The Hill
Other Noteworthy Articles and Series
When the Obama Feds Embraced Diversity ... and the Needle Barely Budged
RealClearInvestigations
The Trump administration’s decision to rescind Obama-era affirmative action guidelines for schools last month reignited a decades-old debate on racial diversity. But as Max Diamond reports for RealClearInvestigations, an Obama initiative begun in 2011, and still in effect for the federal workforce, raises questions about the usefulness of such programs: It has barely moved the needle on hiring more African-Americans and Hispanics.
Documents: Google to Launch Censored Searches in China
The Intercept
Google is planning to launch a censored version of its search engine in China that will blacklist websites and search terms about human rights, democracy, religion, and peaceful protest. The Intercept, which obtained documents on the plan, said the move represents a dramatic shift in Google’s policy on China, marking the first time in almost a decade that the internet giant has operated its search engine in the country.
University of Florida Players Describe Abuse Under Coach Urban Meyer
Project Veritas
In the first video of an exposé series titled "An Unfair Game," Project Veritas shows former University of Florida athletes discussing the physical and mental abuse they experienced at the discretion of Urban Meyer, the now-embattled head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
North Korean Workers Going to Russia Despite Ban
Wall Street Journal
Russia is letting thousands of new North Korean laborers enter the country and issuing fresh work permits—actions U.S. officials say potentially violate United Nations sanctions aimed at cutting cash flows to Pyongyang and pressing it to give up nuclear weapons.
Military Contractor Wanted to Use Jetpacks in Vietnam War
Paleofuture
"The Jetsons" lived in the imagined future back in the good old days. So did James Bond, Agent 007. And so did the U.S. military. In the 1960s, it looked into deploying jetpacks on the battlefield in Vietnam, according to a Bell Aerosystems planning document. The contractor's Bell Rocket Belts could be used by combat soldiers for beach landings. Is that you, G.I. George?
