Tag: Richard Grenell

Trump’s old ‘half-wit’ intelligence director ridiculed for not knowing where federal jobs are located

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If there’s one thing that former Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell has done since leaving office, it has called into question the “intelligence” portion of his previous job title.

Such was the case Wednesday when the long-time federal employee proclaimed that no state should have most of the federal jobs in it. He was talking about his reasons for opposing statehood for Washington, D.C., which comes up for a vote in the U.S. House Thursday.

DC statehood has always been a problem for those nearly 700,000 residents who live in its borders and pay taxes but aren’t given representation in Congress. It became an even greater point of contention during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Mayor Murial Bowser requested help from the National Guard ahead of the rally, but when the violence began, it took several hours for the guard to be deployed to the Capitol. Bowser had to call Virginia and Maryland and beg for help from their governors because the federal government is in charge of the D.C. guard because D.C. isn’t a state.  Continue reading.

‘Show us the Flynn tapes’: Rep. Eric Swalwell destroys Trump’s ex-intel chief in epic Twitter clash

AlterNet logoRight now there is an online Twitter battle between California’s Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell and President Donald Trump’s former acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Richard Grenell.  Swalwell is winning, handily.

It all started last week when Rep. Swalwell said he didn’t trust Grenell, who was stepping down both as Trump’s Ambassador to Germany and as his acting DNI, after the Senate confirmed now-former Congressman John Ratcliffe. (Ratcliffe is legally ineligible to hold that position, but Senate Republicans confirmed him anyway.) Continue reading.

 

New signs emerge that Trump’s controversial new intel chief is trying to keep Congress in the dark

AlterNet logoActing Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell was expected to brief lawmakers about election interference on Tuesday, according to CNN, but his office announced at the last minute that he will not be showing up.

He would have joined other top national security officials to deliver the information to Congress. However, other “experts” were sent in his place. Grenell denied to CNN that he had ever intended to show up for the briefing, but the outlet reported that it obtained documents sent to multiple lawmakers’ offices indicating that he would be appearing on Tuesday.

The odd and unexplained turn of events followed a report from Time on Monday that found that the controversial appointee’s office is withholding or delaying a global threat assessment from Congress that “warns that the U.S. remains unprepared for a global pandemic,” citing two officials who have seen the documents. Continue reading.

Acting Spy Chief Grenell Worked For ‘Corrupt’ Moldovan Oligarch

President Donald Trump’s new acting intelligence director, Richard Grenell, used to do consulting work on behalf of an Eastern European oligarch who is now a fugitive and was recently barred from entering the U.S. under anti-corruption sanctions imposed last month by the State Department.

In 2016, Grenell wrote several articles defending the oligarch, a Moldovan politician named Vladimir Plahotniuc, but did not disclose that he was being paid, according to records and interviews. Grenell also did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which generally requires people to disclose work in the U.S. on behalf of foreign politicians.

FARA is the same law that Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates were convicted of violating. (Manafort went to trial. Gates pleaded guilty.) Continue reading.

Trump expected to tap Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell as acting intel chief

The Hill logoPresident Trump announced Wednesday that he is tapping U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell as his acting director of national intelligence.

The New York Times first reported and a source confirmed to The Hill earlier Wednesday that Trump was expected to choose Grenell, a close ally, to replace current acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, who has served in the role since August. The president then announced his plans in a tweet, shortly before a campaign stop in Phoenix.

Maguire is required by law to leave his position by March 12. Continue reading.