Bolton Has Been Resigned/Fired the President Says

September 10, 2019 1:15 pm EDT Tiff News Commentary Comments Off on Bolton Has Been Resigned/Fired the President Says
John R. Bolton speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

On Tuesday President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that current National Security Adviser John Bolton had been asked for his resignation, and would be leaving the Trump Administration.

The abrupt departure of Bolton comes shortly after the President via Twitter announced that he had canceled a meeting between the Taliban and himself to be held this past Sunday at Camp David.

It also follows less than twenty-four hours after CNN reported that in 2017, “the United States successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government, multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge,” said.

According to the article, part of the reason for extracting the Russian informant, was fear that President Trump might leak highly classified intelligence to the Russian Government, regarding the source.

The New York Times also reported on the CIA informant extracted from Russia.

They explain that this human asset had been supplying inside information to the U.S., for decades, and was an essential asset during the 2016 Presidential campaign.

According to the Times, who said their article was based on interviews in recent months with current and former officials, all speaking on the condition their names would not be used.

The Russian informant these unnamed officials said, “was instrumental to the C.I.A.’s most explosive conclusion about Russia’s interference campaign: that President Vladimir V. Putin ordered and orchestrated it himself. As the American government’s best insight into the thinking of and orders from Mr. Putin, the source was also key to the C.I.A.’s assessment that he affirmatively favored Donald J. Trump’s election and personally ordered the hacking of the Democratic National Committee.”

On Tuesday shortly before the President announced Bolton’s resignation/firing, CNN reported that the President is skeptical of using foreign spies to gather intel on hostile countries.

According to multiple senior officials who served under President Trump, he has said privately that “that foreign spies can damage relations with their host countries and undermine his personal relationships with their leaders, the sources said. The President “believes we shouldn’t be doing that to each other.”

One senior official told CNN that he also believes these informants are “selling out their country.”

The Washington Post is reporting that Bolton told them, “Let’s be clear, I resigned, having offered to do so last night.”

They go on to explain that Bolton had been scheduled to appear with Secretary Mike Pompeo, in a White House briefing just hour or two from when President Trump announced via Twitter that Bolton was out. It’s also noted that tension between Pompeo and Bolton has increased in recent months.

Bolton was scheduled to appear alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a White House briefing later Tuesday. Trump’s announcement came less than two hours before that event.

Bolton’s relationship with Pompeo had become increasingly tense in recent months, with Bolton privately accusing Pompeo of spending too much time furthering his own political ambitions and Pompeo arguing that Bolton’s inflexibility and hard line views were corrosive

The Washington Post.

Bolton also offered this on Twitter ten minutes after President Trump’s tweet.

CNN is reporting that according to those familiar with the situation that President Trump had grown frustrated with Bolton over the last several months over Bolton’s statements regarding Iran, Venezuela, and now Afghanistan.

President Trump reportedly also felt that Bolton wasn’t forceful enough to advocate for him in the media.

For What It’s Worth.

h/t Cindy.

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Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.