All in National Security

Spygate: Leaky WaPo reporter drops book to spin Weiner laptop bungle

Spygate: Leaky WaPo reporter drops book to spin Weiner laptop bungle

Tatiana Prophet
Spying, National Security

By TATIANA PROPHET

Washington Post reporter Devlin Barrett knows his way around Washington’s spy agencies. He knows them so well, that he was the favorite avenue for the targeted leaks of FBI attorney Lisa Page and counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, the lead agent on Crossfire Hurricane (the probe into Russian attempts to steal the 2016 presidential election).

It was Barrett who first identified Trump campaign adviser Carter Page as the target of a FISA warrant (Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant) — after Lisa Page (no relation) arranged the leak by her own account, for a WaPo story in April 2017. The intent was to smear Carter Page and set the stage for the “insurance policy” that agent Strzok had referred to in his private texts with lawyer Page. It took three years for the public to learn that Carter Page had been a CIA asset all along, and that FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith altered an e-mail shared with the FISA court, to state that Page was not a CIA asset. Clinesmith pleaded guilty last month to altering an e-mail.

Scalise shooting: In baseball we trust

Scalise shooting: In baseball we trust

Tatiana Prophet
National Security

OPINION

By TATIANA PROPHET

In America, we don't get much closer to a common non-religious religion than baseball.

So on Wednesday morning when my niece told me to turn on the television, that some congressmen had been shot on the baseball field, there was a dream-like quality to the day's unfolding. It seems not only were our political leaders under physical attack, so was our favorite pastime.

By now, nearly everyone one has heard that 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson, of Belleville, Ill., opened fire with a rifle at a baseball field in Alexandria, Va., early Wednesday morning on Republican members of Congress who were practicing for the game the next day.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the majority whip, was hit as well as four others. They are all being treated, with Scalise sustaining severe injuries. Scalise, incidentally, was a major player in the House passage of the American Health Care Act.

The players had gathered to practice for the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity, a tradition since 1909 designed to "solidify friendships on and off the field," according to organizers, which is still scheduled to take place.

Hodgkinson was shot and killed by officers who responded. If it hadn't been for Steve Scalise's security detail on account of his high position in the Republican House leadership, many might have died.