Anyone who thinks Trump is the problem is missing the mark: An imperial presidency with an unchecked intelligence apparatus is a systemic problem that inevitably led to this.<p>If one person can pervert a system, that system sucks.
This article is part of a massive 17-part drop about the FBI from The Intercept today. Wow. <a href="https://theintercept.com/series/the-fbis-secret-rules/" rel="nofollow">https://theintercept.com/series/the-fbis-secret-rules/</a>
<i>...the FBI’s so-called Type 5 assessments — through which federal agents have authority to investigate people in the United States who are not suspected of having committed crimes, but who, in a federal agent’s opinion, could be recruited as informants.</i><p>In light of this, is anyone who has confidently declared "my personal threat model doesn't include nation-states" reconsidering?
Look at what can be accomplished with some fear-mongering and millions of apathetic citizens. The intelligence community must be so proud of themselves.
I wonder how many people would have to know if a secret Executive Order required a few XKEYSCORE terminals be installed in the West Wing.<p>If only Nixon had had that tech.
At the time of this comment: (6 hours after OP)<p>14 mentions of Trump. 8 mentions of Bush. 2 mentions of Reagan.<p>vs.<p>10 wistful mentions of Hillary Clinton being the better choice. 4 mentions of Obama. 1 mention of Bill Clinton expanding ECHELON.<p>Obama had 8 years building and using it this entire apparatus, after 8 years of Bush putting it into place after 9/11. Trump had been taking it for a test drive over the past 2 weeks.<p>Can we please rename HN to "<i>Silicon Valley and Democrats Only</i>" so lurkers know what they are getting into?
At the risk of invoking the genetic fallacy, beware of far-left and far-right sources of information: <a href="http://www.allsides.com/news-source/intercept" rel="nofollow">http://www.allsides.com/news-source/intercept</a>