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Home Front: Politix
Former US intel official sez POTUS would often push back in briefings, ask questions, challenge briefers
2019-12-04
[The Hill] Former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Susan Gordon, who resigned in August, said Tuesday that President Trump frequently expressed doubt in response to his intelligence briefings.

Speaking to the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, Gordon said Trump had two frequent responses during briefings, CNN reported.

"The one is 'I'm not sure I believe that,'" Gordon said, according to CNN. "And the other is the second-order and third-order effects. 'Why is that true? Why are we there? Why is this what you believe? Why do we do that?' Those sorts of things."

Gordon implied that briefing the president frequently left intelligence officials unsure of where else he was receiving information that may have contributed to his doubt.

"Remember, intelligence is fundamentally a craft of uncertainty and of possibility, so that doesn't put you off. It's trying to catch up to how you adjudicate the sources that led him to believe that and how you respond to it," she said.

Trump, she added, "is probably the first president that arrived with no framework and a world that has massively available information with infinite people offering opinion that ofttimes sound the same but in fact are grittier because they are ‐ they don't have to have the same standard."

Because of the president’s business background, "we were scrambling a bit to try and produce intelligence that was foundationally useful for someone who is interested in making trades and deals," she said.

However, Gordon said that she found the president was "actually kind of a fun brief because he was interactive" and "he would challenge you," CNN reported.
Posted by:Besoeker

#18  The unspoken aspect of the PDB process, is the taskings the President adds to his briefing, concerning either more granularity on something that has been briefed to him, or something that he wants more information about based on other sources, including a wide-ranging awareness of OSINT (OpenSource). The pattern of those taskings points to his trust/and/or skepticism of the contents he is being fed. Any good exec knows after a bit if he is being led by omission of data or context. If that is suspected, ruthless crosswalking of secondary sources is needed to confirm it, and then quick defenestration if true.
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2019-12-04 19:26  

#17  He might believe some of the reports and just wants to test the person giving the report to make sure they know things and aren't just regurgitating. Do that once or twice and they'll start to become experts to avoid being humiliated.
Posted by: ruprecht   2019-12-04 16:09  

#16  What TW said. This is standard experience for any executive overseeing any complex multinational organization, be it private, public, profit or nonprofit.

The executive has to sift and evaluate an extraordinary amount of complex information, presented to him or her by subordinates who have agendas, who are fallible and who themselves are processing and filtering information emerging from their own organizations.

In short a good executive has exceptional BS-detection skills and the ability to simplify and clarify extremely complex info.

Note that neither of Trump's two predecessors had any such executive experience prior to becoming POTUS. No wonder they were so easily gulled, and that they allowed the Deep State to accrete such monstrous influence on their (non-)watch.
Posted by: Lex   2019-12-04 14:07  

#15  Could be even simpler, TW. The man knows when he's being lied to.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2019-12-04 11:08  

#14  intelligence officials unsure of where else he was receiving information

Mr. Trump is a multibillionaire with business ventures around the world that are strongly affected by events on the ground. I have no doubt he has been paying for personal reports from private intelligence sources for decades, and his sons continue to do so as a standing business expense. As such he would know exactly what to expect in at least some of the places our former DDNI was reporting to him about, and could contrast his historic knowledge with what he was being told.

Gordon said that she found the president was "actually kind of a fun brief because he was interactive" and "he would challenge you," CNN reported.

I’ll bet. And an interesting contrast in tone to the rest, suggesting someone had an agenda.
Posted by: trailing wife   2019-12-04 10:57  

#13  It's like an old arithmatic test. "Be sure to show me your work, off in the margin."
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-12-04 10:30  

#12  Aren't those questions on the checklist that is issued to every Intel Analyst, Jr Grade here at the 'Burg? It's stuff I would want to know.
Posted by: SteveS   2019-12-04 10:04  

#11  Iran in flames and ‘experts’ didn’t foresee it due to Trump-hate blindness
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2019-12-04 08:07  

#10  General Tommy Franks and others like him would take briefings and then routinely ask the "so what" question.

Rule of thumb: Be prepared to go at least 3 levels deeper with the analysis.

Posted by: Besoeker   2019-12-04 07:03  

#9  If you couldn't challenge it, then it's opinion, not intelligence.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2019-12-04 06:58  

#8  Ref #7: If this was novel it may be why the west has been declining...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles

Could it possibly be that the briefings were actually intended to be 'informational only' (non-OODA loop), at least until the Orange Man took office ?

Posted by: Besoeker   2019-12-04 06:47  

#7  > "he would challenge you,"

If this was novel it may be why the west has been declining...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2019-12-04 06:39  

#6  SusanM. Gordon served as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) until August 15, 2019.[1][2] Prior to assuming that role, she was the Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), having assumed the position on January 1, 2015.[3] Before joining the NGA, she served as director of the CIA's Information Operations Center and senior cyber adviser to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.[4] Gordon worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for over 25 years.[5]
Posted by: Frank G   2019-12-04 05:40  

#5  "I'm not sure I believe that"
"Why is that true?"
"Why are we there?"
"Why is this what you believe?"
"Why do we do that?"

All very good challenges.

Susan Gordon
Posted by: Skidmark   2019-12-04 05:24  

#4  Questioned? Soetoro frequently gave them the 'wave off.' He wasn't interested. No need for time consuming briefings, PPT's, written summaries and updates. He took his orders 'back channel' from Brennan.

Morning intelligence briefings are quite the challenge, when you sleep until noon.

Posted by: Besoeker   2019-12-04 03:20  

#3  Guess they got used to never being questioned during the Obama tenure.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2019-12-04 03:10  

#2  This reinforces the fact that this is the President America had been waiting for.
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-12-04 03:09  

#1  Because of the president’s business background, "we were scrambling a bit to try and produce intelligence that was foundationally useful for someone who is interested in making trades and deals," she said.

"Making trades and deals".... as opposed to conflictual regime change? How out-of-the-box. How innovative.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-12-04 03:01  

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