Sciutto from shinola

Late Monday evening CNN’s Jim Sciutto reported the extraction of a CIA asset from Putin’s circle in 2017, allegedly on account of the security risk raised by President Trump being President Trump. The New York Times followed with a detailed story that contradicted the essential anti-Trump element of Sciutto’s “exclusive.”

Although framed in terms of concerns about threats to the United States, both these stories represent galling breaches of national security. One wonders if an investigation will be conducted and if consequences will ensue. The Times story emphasizes the highly classified treatment of the asset. Not even Obama DNI James Clapper could be trusted with the information. (See the last paragraph of the Times story.) That Clapper is an idiot is beside the point. John Brennan would certainly have to be foremost among the likely suspects leaking to the CNN and the Times on this story.

The CIA issued a statement expressly denying the accuracy of the CNN version of the story. FOX News has a long account including the CIA denial here. The Free Beacon’s Alex Griswold details the essential contradiction between the CNN version of the story and the Times’s (as well as the Post’s) here. Secretary Pompeo — former CIA Director — denied the accuracy of the CNN story as well.

The fundamental things apply. Viewers who get their news from CNN cannot tell Sciutto from shinola.

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