In a recent interview with CNN’s Michael Smerconish, former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden offered equal parts shock and outrage at revelations that senior White House advisor Jared Kushner had discussed opening a secret channel to the Russian government.
Smerconish wanted to know: Was Kushner driven by naiveté? Or was he engaged in some nefarious activities? Hayden replied:
“Well Michael right now I’m going with naiveté, and that’s not, particularly very comforting for me.
“I mean what manner of ignorance, chaos, hubris, suspicion, contempt would you have to have to think that doing this with the Russian ambassador was a good or an appropriate idea? So again, naiveté doesn’t make me feel good about many things.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPtTusJ2eks
Reports surfaced last week that Kushner sought to establish what the Washington Post described as a “secret and secure” back channel with the Kremlin in December. To that end, Kushner and now-disgraced National Security advisor Michael Flynn met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak – the same ambassador with whom President Donald Trump shared classified intelligence earlier this month.
Hayden expounded on his statement by pointing out how ludicrous it would have been for members of the Trump administration to meet secretly with the Russians when they were already under intense public scrutiny for having colluded with Russia during their campaign.
But the most interesting thing about the interview, I think, is not Hayden’s response, but Smerconish’s original question. Is policy in the Trump administration driven primarily by ignorance or by something more sinister? It’s an important question not only as it pertains to connections between the Kremlin and the White House, but in relation to a host of other issues, too.
For instance, did Trump tell FBI director James Comey to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn simply because he’s a political neophyte who likes people who are personally loyal to him? Or did he want the investigation killed because Michael Flynn has damaging information about Trump and other top White House personnel?
Another example: Trump has flirted with the idea of removing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, and his budget proposal strips billions in funding from renewable energy research. These are decisions that will only increase global rates of flooding, drought, famine, and war. But is Trump’s environmental policy best explained by the fact that he has significant investments in the fossil fuel industry, or by the fact that he’s scientifically illiterate?
The scary reality is that in most cases, it’s probably not an either/or proposition. Trump and his cronies are both dangerously ignorant and unashamed to engage in malfeasance of the highest order.
Featured image via YouTube video.
