It sounds like something from a John LeCarre novel or one of right-wing radio host Alex Jones’ more delusional rants: A sitting president becomes so paranoid that members of the intelligence committee are trying to topple him that he creates a private intelligence agency as a counterweight to the CIA, NSA, and other existing agencies.
Sounds downright kooky, doesn’t it? But it’s currently in the planning stages within the Trump administration.
According to The Intercept, Blackwater founder Erik Prince and former Colonel Ollie North are working on such a plan that would provide the White House:
“A global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals. The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White House as a means of countering ‘deep state’ enemies in the intelligence community seeking to undermine Donald Trump’s presidency.”
Why might such a thing be necessary? A former U.S. intelligence official who has first-hand knowledge of the plans explained:
“[CIA Director] Pompeo can’t trust the CIA bureaucracy, so we need to create this thing that reports just directly to him. It is a direct-action arm, totally off the books. The whole point is this is supposed to report to the president and Pompeo directly.”
The new intelligence agency would be used in places the United States currently has little or no human intelligence such as North Korea and Iran.
But the Prince-North plan would also have another, more sinister purpose: To flush out and silence anyone inside the federal government who criticizes Trump or the administration. Some members of the planning group told potential donors for the project that they were:
“Certain that the deep state was going to kick the president out of office within a year. These guys said they were protecting the president.”
When contacted for comment, Prince, who has given contributions to Mike Pence and whose sister, Betsy DeVos, is currently Secretary of Education, threatened legal action:
“I have zero to do with any such effort and saying that I did/do would be categorically false. Knowingly publishing false information exposes you to civil legal action.”
Kooky? Paranoid? Sounds exactly like the sort of thing Donald Trump would absolutely love.
Featured Image YouTube Video.
