OMG! Trump lied. Who'd a-thunk-it?

Ryan Goodman
@rgoodlaw

President Trump's claim of bomb threats to embassies is falling apart.

1. No threat to an embassy in intelligence briefings to Congress

2. Two senior administration officials appear to be admitting to WaPo that Trump's claim is false. Trump now claims four embassies were under threat from Iran, raising fresh questions about intell...In a Fox News interview, Trump said that four U.S. posts, including the embassy in Baghdad, were the subject of plotting by Qasem Soleimani.
washingtonpost.com
8:31 AM · Jan 11, 2020

Ryan Goodman
@rgoodlaw

2. Two senior officials "said they were only aware of vague intelligence about a plot against the embassy in Baghdad and that the information did not suggest a fully formed plot. Neither official said there were threats against multiple embassies."
- Washington Post
Ryan Goodman

3. Telltale sign: No warning to embassy in Baghdad

"The embassy in Baghdad did not receive an alert commensurate to the threat Trump described....When the U.S. government has specific information about threats to embassies, warnings or alerts are often sent to embassy personnel"

Ryan Goodman
@rgoodlaw

4. Telltale sign: No travel advisories for Americans

Brett Holmgren, former CIA, DOD, NSC:

"it would’ve been routine for the Departments of State or Defense to issue a travel or threat warning to American citizens or US military personnel in the region" --- As Conflict with Iran Intensifies, US Intel Community Is Still Leaderless --- At a time when intelligence will be central to decisions about Iran, the gaps in leadership at the Office of the DNI are deeply concerning.
justsecurity.org

Ryan Goodman
@rgoodlaw

5. Holmgren also adds:

"An imminent threat of attack should have triggered the Intelligence Community's Duty to Warn obligations or the State Department’s No Double Standard Policy and resulted in some type of public alert."