Kelly Loeffler is not guilty.
Posted on 02/21/2020 5:20:50 AM PST by EyesOfTX
Thursday evening, President Trump issued the following tweet:
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump Thank you to our great US Ambassador to Germany, @RichardGrenell, for stepping in to serve as acting DNI. I will be nominating a terrific candidate for the job very soon. Stay tuned!
Earlier in the day, both the White House and Ambassador Grenell said that he would retain his key Ambassador’s post while he serves as Acting DNI. This naturally created speculation about how one man could do both jobs, a question that the President’s tweet clears up: Grenell will not be his nominee to take the DNI job permanently. Speculation Friday morning centers around the President’s intention to nominate outgoing Georgia Congressman Doug Collins to the post. If true, this could be a stroke of Trumpian genius. Here’s why:
- Collins recently announced he would leave his House seat in order to challenge incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler for her job;
- Loeffler was appointed to that seat last year by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp when Johnny Isakson had to retire due to health reasons, even though President Trump had urged him to appoint Collins;
- Mitch McConnell favored Loeffler for that seat, since she is more of an “establishment” Republican than Collins is;
- McConnell was reportedly quite upset when Collins announced he would challenge Loeffler for the GOP nomination;
- Trump has found it difficult – indeed, impossible – to obtain Senate approval for the appointment of someone truly loyal to him to the DNI position;
- The Deep State skunks who infest the Senate Committee on Intelligence (SCI) want to see that post remain in the hands of Deep State flunkies like outgoing Acting DNI Joseph Maguire;
- The only way around the SCI roadblock on this position is Cocaine Mitch, who has the personal power to manipulate his GOP majorities on the SCI and in the full Senate to approve any Trump nominee;
- McConnell had no compelling interest in deploying his personal political capital to back Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe when the President nominated him for this key post last summer; thus, Ratcliffe could not obtain support from the SCI skunks;
- On the other hand, McConnell DOES have a compelling interest to use that political capital to help Collins be confirmed, since he vastly prefers to deal with establishment, Chamber of Commerce-type Republicans like Loeffler than true conservatives like Collins;
- Even better, the GOP skunks on the SCI also prefer dealing with a Kelly Loeffler over dealing with a Doug Collins.
Politics is a very interesting and complex game – the give and take of it, the never-ending machinations and skullduggery, the constant search for leveraging one player’s interests here in order to obtain their support over there, is infinitely fascinating.
It seems very likely to me that this is the President’s gambit in floating Collins’ name for this position. If so, it’s a brilliant one because it meets the wishes and needs of so many of the key players whose support will be necessary to see the nomination through to confirmation.
And if Collins is rejected by the SCI members due to his support of Trump, then the President would be well-justified to just keep rotating a procession of Acting DNIs into the post every 6 months for the duration of his presidency. There is no reason why any president should be forced to keep putting people he knows to be disloyal snakes into such a crucial job.
As the President loves to say, let’s see what happens.
That is all.
The only thing I can see Loeffler has going for her is that she’s rich and donates to establishment candidates. Looks like Bloomberg not only one buying an office.
Ratcliffe was a genius move too, but the dems beat him up.
The legislation creating the DNI position stated that the person filling it should have intelligence experience. Collins never served in an intelligence agency, did not work in intelligence in the military, and never served on the Intelligence Committee in the House. If he is appointed acting DNI then he’s out in a year. If he’s nominated for the position then it’ll never pass in the Senate.
“And if Collins is rejected by the SCI members due to his support of Trump, then...”
He runs against Loeffler
“The legislation creating the DNI position stated that the person filling it should have intelligence experience.”
It depends on what intelligence experience means. I held a TS clearance on a black project. We received regular “courtesy” briefings. (My God, where they eye opening!) Actually, I think the public should have received similar updates so the public would understand just what was going on. There was a war in progress at the time, only involving spying instead of guns. Does that count for “intelligence experience?” It is likely Collins has more under his belt than we know.
I see your point, and a few years ago I would have agreed whole heartedly.
Now I disagree with that position as in my working days we got a supervisor that came from a totally different field and knew absolutely nothing about what we did. We all thought he’d fail or just be a jerk.
WRONG! He was a good leader. He knew who was competent at work and inspired them to press on. Our work section’s morale improved and so did production.
But a better case is Trump. He’s not only never been President before, but not even a politician. He’s a total outsider just doing things different that’s MAGA. This Collins guy might just be the ticket, as he’s an outsider.
Like my old boss, or Trump, he just needs to be a good leader.
According to Fox this morning, Collins isn’t interested in being DNI. Personally, I still think Grenell would be a good permanent DNI.
Loeffler is Perdue in a skirt. And she is starting off with the smell of impropriety. This business of her getting a seat on the Senate Agricultural Committee which oversees her husband’s business is really beyond the pale.
If Trump's intent is to direct a huge middle finger to all the intelligence agencies then the better way to do that is to either do away with the DNI post entirely or else leave it empty.
I want Collins to beat the establishment hack. No more milktoast, limp wristed Bush republicans in office, anywhere. Get them all out. I want only fire breathing conservatives in red states from now on.
I want Collins to beat the establishment hack. No more milktoast, limp wristed Bush republicans in office, anywhere. Get them all out. I want only fire breathing conservatives in red states from now on.
I also suspect her of the Graham approach of playing conservative before a 6-year election, then breaking out.
But Collins is a former pastor with no significant executive experience. Tough enough for the intel community?
Kelly Loeffler is not guilty.
Collins already said “Thanks, but no thanks.”
For those who (like me) want to see acronyms spelled out so we know what we are reading about, DNI is “Director of National Intelligence”.
(and yes I had to look it up)
I have no idea what Trump is up to, but HE does.
TRUST TRUMP!
I always appreciate your perspective, and it could be that this would be a genius move.
But, at this rate of “chessmanship” Trump will be termed out with all of the GOPe snakes still in place. 8 years of struggle will just give them more tax revenue to embezzle.
I don’t think that you can use the “established” process, courtesies of “blue slips” and the like, to combat this entrenched corruption. That’s why these snakes have set up these processes.
It’s a “genius move” for Loffler and Mitch McConnell but not for Doug Collins!
We need him in the Senate and Mitch doesn’t want him to have to stand up to!
Wake up and know your facts about what’s really going in here, this was a money move based on a promise GA Gov. made based on money given to him, not based on what’s actually good for the voters!
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