Intel Outside?

As news outlets broke several stories about Russia’s attempts to impact the November election, the determination to examine Moscow’s role became decidedly more bipartisan; and included a call for a probe by Senate Majorirty Leader Mitch McConnell, who told reporters “the Russians are not our friends.” According to WaPo, “McConnell declined to address his role in a September briefing for lawmakers, where he reportedly dismissed intelligence assessments suggesting that Russia was trying to sway the presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. Instead, he credited Senate Republicans for standing firm against Russia and blamed President Obama for Russian encroachment around the globe.” (Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing клей.)

+ While the probe is bipartisan, it does not have the support of the president-elect who publicly questioned the quality of CIA intel: “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.” From Politico: Intel world struggles to crack the code of an untrusting Trump.

+ Trump also explained why he has been skipping daily presidential intelligence meetings: “You know, I’m, like, a smart person. I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day.” (FWIW, Trump ripped Obama for missing intel briefings … even though it turned out that reports of Obama missing updates was based on false reporting.)

+ David Sanger: What is the President’s Daily Brief?