The Deep State is Alive and Well, Selling the Same Old Lie: "Sources and Methods"

Journalists were once eager to hear secrets. As they proved again this week, they're now primarily gatekeepers, helping corrupt officials hide the ball

From “Gabbard overrode CIA officials’ concerns in push to release classified Russia report,” in the Washington Post this week:

The Trump administration pushed to unveil a highly classified document on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election after an intense behind-the-scenes struggle over secrecy, which ended in late July when Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a minimally redacted version of the report, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

Gabbard, with the blessing of President Donald Trump, overrode arguments from the CIA and other intelligence agencies that more of the document should remain classified to obscure U.S. spy agencies’ sources and methods, the people said…

For sheer chutzpah, it’s hard to match Warren Stroebel’s crude hit piece. First, it isn’t news: many of us who wrote on Gabbard’s releases already reported that these documents came out over objections from other agencies. The crucial 46-page House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) report showing how officials like former CIA Director John Brennan cooked the books to argue Russia “aspired” to help Trump was declassified only after current HPSCI chairman Rick Crawford complained about it being “held hostage” at the CIA and “Trump interceded in early July,” as I put it weeks ago. Gabbard herself hinted at struggles with a still-formidable “deep state” in a speech on July 12th:

More to the point, the fact that she’s had to fight elements in the intelligence community (and others in government) just to get true material to the public is to Gabbard’s credit, not any kind of demerit. The Post, in a breathtaking spin job, simply took news Gabbard’s office is proud of, and spat it out as a negative.

“I love the Washington Post headline,” said Alexa Henning, Deputy Chief of Staff in Gabbard’s office. “Of course, the deep state is going to try to push back against us. When the CIA and others are leaking to the Post and the New York Times, that means we’re onto something.”

A source close to the original HPSCI investigation added: “Gabbard had to climb Everest to get this stuff out, and they’re giving her a hard time… Ridiculous.”

Amid this week’s media attacks, not one reporter noted the fight over Russiagate releases is ongoing, and involves material some intelligence officials are still determined to keep hidden. According to multiple people with knowledge of the probes, the “sources and methods” the CIA and other agencies are most concerned about don’t involve sensitive human assets or intelligence gathering, but bureaucratic tricks to burnish weak evidence or cover up bad practices. Burying the unclassified Steele dossier in the highest level of classification in the 2017 Assessment, pushing analysts to endorse conclusions based on unseen information, and using a “circle jerk” method of leaking to friendly media and then citing their articles in intelligence reports are among the practices at issue.

The recent press hysterics have to be understood in this context. Features decrying releases to taxpayers of documents written by public servants omit another fact: when you hear “sources and methods,” it’s a good bet the next word out of a reporter’s mouth is a lie. It’s nearly a 100% tendency: