So Trump relies on reams of unverified information from TV but this intelligence wasn’t credible enough to flag for him?

Some programming notes: 1) not everything you brief to a President is always high confidence / fully verified

2) the PDB isn’t the only way to flag something for a President - esp if you know he doesnt look at it

3) intel assessments def evolve over time, but unless this whole threat stream was garbage you often keep senior officials briefed on content / confidence levels

4) in can take months to verify intel - and taking precautions to protect troops while doing so is prudent.

But is it reliable intel yet? If so what are we doing about it

5) unless threat reporting like this is totallynon credible you’d typically brief potus on it w all the appropriate caveats (confidence levels) and keep him updated as the process determines reliability and such. You’d note any dissenting views within the intel community.

6) presidents shouldn’t be ( or want to be) in the dark about threats to Americans.

7) a president’s lack of intelligence isn’t an excuse

8) maybe john Bolton and Robert O’Brien should be asked to testify on this.

As the national security advisor they to a large degree a filter what intel from within the NSC gets to POTUS

9) they also are supposed to lead NSC meetings and prep P prep for foreign calls.

10) so either A) they blocked and tackled to somehow prevent the threat reporting from getting to P ( censored NSC content, IC content, and more)

B) The intel reporting was total garbage or C) potus chose to disregard intelligence