John Bolton Is America’s Worst Nightmare

(ANTIMEDIA Op-ed) — John Bolton’s inclusion in the Trump administration as Donald Trump’s new national security advisor is nothing short of a nightmare. Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador under George W. Bush, will be replacing General H.R. McMaster as Trump’s national security advisor, who replaced former “disgraced” national security advisor Michael Flynn. When the president struck a Syrian […]

America’s Worst Nightmare

(ANTIMEDIA Op-ed) — John Bolton’s inclusion in the Trump administration as Donald Trump’s new national security advisor is nothing short of a nightmare. Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador under George W. Bush, will be replacing General H.R. McMaster as Trump’s national security advisor, who replaced former “disgraced” national security advisor Michael Flynn. When the president struck a Syrian […]

Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster appointed as 26th National Security Adviser

National Security Adviser to the Trump Administration Lt. Gen H.R. McMaster (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist James E. Foehl/Released)

PALM BEACH, Flor. (INTELLIHUB) Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster was appointed the 26th National Security Adviser around 1 p.m. local time Monday by President Donald J. Trump, who made the announcement from the ‘Southern White House.’

McMaster is known for serving in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom and his most recent role as Director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center and Deputy Commanding General, Futures, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. McMaster is a “battle tested veteran” and is well-known for utilizing unconventional methods of thinking during critical situations.

Sen. John McCain, who recently declared war on the president and his supporters, endorsed McMaster as an appointee on Twitter, tweeting out that he’s is an “outstanding choice” as the N.S.A.

Lt Gen HR McMaster is outstanding choice for nat"l security advisor – man of genuine intellect, character & ability https://t.co/rYmJm00Xdf

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 20, 2017

From his Mar-a-Lago residence, the president also congratulated the Lt. General on Twitter and posted a photo of the two.

Congratulations to our new National Security Advisor, General H.R. McMaster. Video: https://t.co/BKn9r225Kk pic.twitter.com/VBXcJ1b6Pv

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2017

Pres. Trump told the press that McMaster “is highly respected by everybody in the military.”

“I will look forward to joining the national security team,” McMaster said.

‘I will do everything he can to advance and protect the interests of the American people.’

“This is a great team — we are very, very, honored,” the president told reporters before his departure to Washington.

James Stavridis, PhD, Admiral, US Navy (Retired) Dean also confirmed that McMaster is the “perfect pick.”

Stavridis tweeted:

HR McMaster is rare military officer who combines detailed, steady planning skills with true creativity. Terrific pick.

— stavridisj (@stavridisj) February 21, 2017

Looks like McMaster may give the Islamic State a run for their money.

©2017. INTELLIHUB.COM. All Rights Reserved.

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Poof! Flynn is gone

WASHINGTON D.C. (INTELLIHUB) — President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned Monday night just after the Justice Department advised White House officials that Flynn may possibly be the target of a blackmail.

Flynn’s replacement will be Ret. Army Gen. Keith Kellogg, 72, who has already been abruptly appointed by the Trump Administration as the National Security Adviser (acting).

The media drove a wedge through the Admin. over the weekend after Flynn was alleged to have spoken with a Russian Ambassador about the “sanctions” near the end of Trump’s presidential run and was subsequently investigated through F.B.I. recordings, which so far have turned up no crime.

National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Gen. Raymond A. “Tony” Thomas, U.S. Special Operations Command Commander, at MacDill, AFB, FL, Feb. 6, 2017. Flynn is in MacDill to join the President who’s visiting senior military leaders and service members of Central Command and Special Operations Command. (DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen/Released)

All of this is causing static and is likely part of a much larger master plan to derail the current regime.

Trump refused to comment on the matter.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer let the press know that he was “evaluating the situation” and that Vice President Mike Pence received an apology over the phone from a departing Flynn.

Although some press reported Monday that Flynn would continue his duties in the Administration, Intellihub took special care to let the readers know that Flynn’s job was in peril over the friction.

Flynn left a resignation letter which listed why he resigned. In the letter, Flynn wrote that “because of the fast pace of events” he managed to “brief the Vice President-elect and others with incomplete information” pertaining to phone conversations Russian Ambassador.

Flynn made it clear that he was “honored to serve President Trump […] our nation and the American people” and said that the Trump “team will go down in history as one of the greatest presidencies […].”

Michael-Flynn-Resignation-Letter (PDF Version)

Now some within the government, like Connecticut Rep. Chris Murphy feel the Trump-Russia “story” needs to be investigated and are already parroting the old ‘Russian narrative.’

Rep. Chris Murphy tweeted Monday:

Flynn"s departure only matters if 1) he"s followed by a mainstream, experienced replacement, 2) we get to bottom of the Trump/Russia story.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 14, 2017

CBS News got a little aggressive with the White House in the following excerpt, reporting:

Rep. John Conyers, Jr., D-Mich., the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md, Ranking Member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued a joint statement saying they were “shocked and dismayed” to learn that law enforcement officials had warned White House counsel Don McGahn that Flynn had given false information to the public about his communications with Russian officials, but the White House “apparently did nothing about it — neither to clarify the truth to the American public or to stop General Flynn from being an ongoing national security concern.”

Trump’s personal stance on the issue is currently unknown.

Sources:

Michael Flynn Resigns as National Security Adviser — ABCNews.com

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Trump, Bannon Said To Weigh Firing Mike Flynn Over Russian Phone Calls Scandal

(ZHE) Top White House aide and policy adviser, Stephen Miller, sidestepped repeated chances during Sunday news shows to publicly defend embattled National Security Adviser Michael Flynn following reports that he engaged in conversations with Russian diplomat(s) about U.S. sanctions before Trump’s inauguration. The uncertainty came as Trump was dealing with North Korea’s apparent first missile launch of the year and his presidency, along with visits this week from the leaders of Israel and Canada.

Pressed repeatedly, Stephen Miller said it wasn’t up to him to say whether the president retains confidence in Flynn. “It’s not for me to tell you what’s in the president’s mind,” he said on NBC. “That’s a question for the president.”

While Trump has yet to comment on the allegations against Flynn, the White House said in an anonymous statement Friday the president had full confidence in Flynn. But officials have been mum since then amid fallout from reports that Flynn addressed U.S. sanctions against Russia in a phone call late last year. The report, which first appeared in The Washington Post, contradicted both Flynn’s previous denials, as well as those made by Vice President Mike Pence in a televised interview.

Now we know why the administration has been so quiet about the fate of Flynn. As the WSJ reports, the White House is reviewing “whether to retain Flynn amid a furor over his contacts with Russian officials before President Donald Trump took office, an administration official said Sunday.” Flynn has apologized to White House colleagues over the episode, which has created a rift with Vice President Mike Pence and diverted attention from the administration’s message to his own dealings, the official said.

“He’s apologized to everyone,” the official said of Mr. Flynn.

Still, the WSJ concedes that Trump’s views toward the matter aren’t clear. In recent days, he has privately told people the controversy surrounding Mr. Flynn is unwelcome, after he told reporters on Friday he would “look into” the disclosures.  At the same time, Trump also has said he has confidence in Mr. Flynn and wants to “keep moving forward,” a person familiar with his thinking said. Close Trump adviser Steve Bannon had dinner with Mr. Flynn over the weekend, according to another senior administration official, and Bannon’s view is to keep him in the position but “be ready” to let him go, the first administration official said.

The paper also adds that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, hadn’t yet weighed in on Flynn’s future yet as of Sunday evening.

For those who may not have followed the story, Flynn initially said that in a conversation Dec. 29 with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, he didn’t discuss sanctions imposed that day by the outgoing Obama administration, which were levied in retaliation for alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Flynn now concedes that he did, administration officials said, after transcripts of his phone calls show as much. He also admits he spoke with the ambassador more than once on Dec. 29, despite weeks of the Trump team’s insisting it was just one phone call, officials said.

If Flynn had promised any easing of sanctions once Mr. Trump took office, he may have violated a law that prohibits private citizens from engaging in foreign policy, legal experts have said. That would mark the first instance of a person close to Mr. Trump found to have inappropriate links to Russia, a subject U.S. officials have been investigating for months.

U.S. intelligence services routinely intercept and monitor conversations with Russian diplomats, officials have said. While the transcripts of the conversations don’t show Mr. Flynn made any sort of promise to lift the sanctions once Mr. Trump took office, they show Flynn making more general comments about relations between the two countries improving under Mr. Trump, people familiar with them said.

Flynn’s alleged lies have angered VP Mike Pence, who in television interviews vouched for Flynn, administration officials said. Pence and Flynn spoke twice on Friday, one official said quoted by the WSJ.

Reince Priebus is leading the Trump administration’s review of Flynn.

Some administration officials are hopeful Mr. Flynn would resign on his own, a person familiar with the matter said. Some people close to Mr. Trump already are speculating on possible successors, including retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who advised Mr. Trump during the campaign and who is chief of staff of the National Security Council.

Jettisoning Mr. Flynn might end one controversy, but would potentially feed perceptions of a disorganized White House, some people close to Mr. Trump said. That’s one reason the White House might be hesitant to cut ties to Mr. Flynn, they added.

Meanwhile, Democrats smell blood and want Flynn out immediately.

As pressure built on White House officials, Democrats on Sunday pressed for an independent investigation into Mr. Flynn’s conversations with Russia’s ambassador.

“Either he was lying about discussing it or he forgot,” said Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.), speaking Sunday on CNN. ”You don’t want a guy in either of those scenarios to be in that position.”

Franken has also called for an independent investigation into the Trump campaign’s and the administration’s ties to Russia, citing allegations of Kremlin interference in the 2016 U.S. election and Mr. Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns, as candidates have done since the 1970s. “We don’t know what [Mr. Trump] owes Russia,” Mr. Franken said. “We don’t know how many Russian oligarchs have invested in his business.” At the same time Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.), who lead the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subpanel on crime and terrorism, already have launched an investigation of Russia’s efforts to influence the U.S. election.

While the situation remains liquid, two things are certain: Trump will have a “kneejerk response” tweet momentarily, and the market will interpret this latest tremor inside the White House as even more bullish.

By Tyler Durden / Republished with permission / Zero Hedge / Report a typo