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NSA Director: Trump Has Given No Specific Order to Combat Russian Meddling in 2018 Election

VanceMack said:
Right. So he has the authority to do his job. Correct? And his job as the head of the NSA is to protect against intrusions.

FFS....
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No, the NSA gathers intell, they dont go do something about what they learn.....this guy is blowing smoke because he knows that bitching about Trump is always popular, and he wants more power.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
No, the NSA gathers intell, they dont go do something about what they learn.....this guy is blowing smoke because he knows that bitching about Trump is always popular, and he wants more power.
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"The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence. The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, specializing in a discipline known as signals intelligence (SIGINT). The NSA is also tasked with the protection of U.S. communications networks and information systems. The NSA relies on a variety of measures to accomplish its mission, the majority of which are clandestine."
 
VanceMack said:
"The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence. The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, specializing in a discipline known as signals intelligence (SIGINT). The NSA is also tasked with the protection of U.S. communications networks and information systems. The NSA relies on a variety of measures to accomplish its mission, the majority of which are clandestine."
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Ya, I knew that, and I also touched base with an intel expert just to be sure that I had not missed something.
 
Risky Thicket said:
Yes, but the Commander in Chief maintains that Russia hasn't committed any great foul and even as recently as today has called the investigation in the election meddling a "witch hunt". :roll:

Wasn't it just a week or so ago that Rogers and other three letter agency heads were asked during a Congressional committee hearing if they had received any specific messages of support or guidance or concerns or coordination from Trump? All answered that they had not.

The agency heads are traversing unchartered and dangerous territory. Their boss, the guy who is supposed to lead, doesn't seem to be showing much initiative. When it comes to finding answers that involve Russia their boss is apparently just as unmotivated in private as he is in public. To me that is telling. Ain't no fire under Trump's large lumpy ass to get things done.

Also, there is much that the 3 letter heads of agencies cannot say and would not say in public. Trump doesn't like American intelligence agencies. He has said so. He has also said that he believes Putin when Putin tells him that Russia wasn't involved in election meddling. The world knows otherwise. Mueller in fact has recently indicted Russias for meddling with American elections. Yet Trump in essence tells Rogers and others he trusts Putin rather than American intelligence agencies!

Who in the known world is not aware that Trump plays very loose with classified intelligence? Everyone has seen the video of Trump giving top secret intelligence (from Israel) to the Russians while standing in the Oval Office. A growing number of Trump's staff have been indicted. What needs to be said about White House staff handling TS/SCI intel without a permanent security clearance? Kushner especially. Jesus H.

All the above and more has surely made intelligence gathering much more difficult for American intelligence agencies. Trump is a loose cannon. There is no secret there. His administration reflects it. What foreign intelligence sources, be they individuals or foreign government intelligence agencies, would not be very reluctant to share extremely sensitive intelligence with the US knowing that it may well show up in a Tweet or an unscripted portion of a rambling speech?

Who would be comfortable sharing intelligence that might easily be accessed by scores of Trumpian staff who aren't cleared to have access? Kushner is one example. He is ripe for compromise, if he hasn't been compromised already. Foreign and American intelligence people know that.

So on the other hand I could well imagine that American intelligence agencies would often prefer not to have to share information with Trump.

Trump seems to believe that he can have access to any intelligence information he wants. He can't, not in the world outside his head. Why give him ideas? No doubt the adults in government play a tough game keeping what he doesn't need to know away from him while getting what the intelligence professionals need from him.
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Ok, and exactly what does all of what you just wrote have to do with someone doing the job they are supposed to do? If you are in charge of making sure the U.S.'s cyber structure is safe, then do it. I don't see where you need directive to do that.


Now if Trump is directing him to do something against what his job is, then I would agree, but he's not.

Wasn't it just a week or so ago that Rogers and other three letter agency heads were asked during a Congressional committee hearing if they had received any specific messages of support or guidance or concerns or coordination from Trump? All answered that they had not.
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So that means you don't do what you have to do? Or how's this example: You're in a unit out on patrol in the army (or whatever terms are used) and you see the enemy sneaking towards you, but your commander doesn't seem to care, do you just let them come at you, or do you do what you were trained to do and stop them?

If it was me, as long as I'm not being told NOT to do what I needed to do to protect the US against cyber attack, I would damn well do it.
 
Parrish said:
You mean like go rove against the CiC or get up with Pompeo and Coates and stage a coup?
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No. Just do your job. He's been doing it all along, and this hasn't been the first threat against our cyber network. We are constantly being cyber attacked, not just from Russia. Are we just letting it happen because Trump didn't directly say "oh, guard against China, Iran, North Korea, trying to hack in"? North Korea tries almost on a daily basis to get into our Federal Reserve, they don't go run to Trump for permission to stop them, do they?
 
Question: Do previous directives or orders adopted by Congress automatically stop when a new President comes in?

These directives were approved by Obama. Did Trump say to stop? I don't know, so I'm asking. If not, why is this not being done?

(3) On April 1, 2015, President Obama issued Executive Order
No. 13694 (80 Fed. Reg. 18077; relating to blocking the property
of certain persons engaging in significant malicious cyber-
enabled activities), which authorizes the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the
Secretary of State, to impose sanctions on persons determined to
be engaged in malicious cyber-hacking.

(4) On July 26, 2016, President Obama approved a
Presidential Policy Directive on United States Cyber Incident
Coordination, which states, ``certain cyber incidents that have
significant impacts on an entity, our national security, or the
broader economy require a unique approach to response efforts''.

(5) On December 29, 2016, President Obama issued an annex to
Executive Order No. 13694, which authorized sanctions on the
following entities and individuals:
(A) The Main Intelligence Directorate (also known as
Glavnoe Razvedyvatel'noe Upravlenie or the GRU) in
Moscow, Russian Federation.
(B) The Federal Security Service (also known as
Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti or the FSB) in Moscow,
Russian Federation.
(C) The Special Technology Center (also known as
STLC, Ltd. Special Technology Center St. Petersburg) in
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
(D) Zorsecurity (also known as Esage Lab) in Moscow,
Russian Federation.
(E) The autonomous noncommercial organization known
as the Professional Association of Designers of Data
Processing Systems (also known as ANO PO KSI) in Moscow,
Russian Federation.
(F) Igor Valentinovich Korobov.
(G) Sergey Aleksandrovich Gizunov.
(H) Igor Olegovich Kostyukov.
(I) Vladimir Stepanovich Alexseyev.
 
VanceMack said:
Right. So he has the authority to do his job. Correct? And his job as the head of the NSA is to protect against intrusions.

FFS....
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he does not have the authority to do anything that could affect foreign policy without approval from the president
 
sangha said:
he does not have the authority to do anything that could affect foreign policy without approval from the president
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But does he have the authority to do his job? He already said he did.

"I’ve never been given any specific direction to take additional steps outside my authority” “I have taken the steps within my authority, you know, trying to be a good, pro-active commander”
 
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Gina said:
Take it up with the agency/governing body that wrote up the authority the NSA, FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and so forth were given or not. There is a reason they have limits on their authority, so they don't go off, willy nilly, taking action against foreign governments without the consent of the President of the U.S.A. That is a good thing. Suppose they decide to go spying on Americans? Also, some actions these agencies may decide to take, to combat Russian interference, Rogers believes would be considered making Russia pay a price.

"Rogers said he believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has clearly come to the conclusion that there’s little price to pay (for its U.S. election interference) and that therefore, ‘I can continue this activity.’ Clearly what we have done hasn’t been enough.”

Russia may take exception to what the agencies do, yes? The President should approve of and be ready should Russia decide to take counter actions, yes?

Again, do you think the heads of these agencies do not take the security of our nation seriously?
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If it's outside his authority, maybe he should stop complaining that he hasn't received a directive to address it. He might be mad because he isn't able to get away with abusing his authority.

Do they take the security of the nation serioisly? Their past track record says either they don't, or they're incompetant.
 
Gina said:
I have no idea. But watching Rogers' body language during his testimony, the man is in serious distress at not being able to accomplish his job, protecting our country. These guys are serious as a heart attack about their jobs. I'm just stunned that our nation is being put at serious risk because our president ("I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.") is not taking every possible measure to defend our elections and our country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_office_of_the_President_of_the_United_States
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I am not at all surprised; what did people really expect from Donald Trump, the guy that has been doing business for decades with Russian money?
I am not kidding.
I guess folks were not paying attention ........
 
VanceMack said:
But does he have the authority to do his job? He already said he did.
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No, he did not say that.
"I’ve never been given any specific direction to take additional steps outside my authority” “I have taken the steps within my authority, you know, trying to be a good, pro-active commander”
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Does he have authority to plant cyber-weapons in Russian computer networks?
 
holbritter said:
No. Just do your job. He's been doing it all along, and this hasn't been the first threat against our cyber network. We are constantly being cyber attacked, not just from Russia. Are we just letting it happen because Trump didn't directly say "oh, guard against China, Iran, North Korea, trying to hack in"? North Korea tries almost on a daily basis to get into our Federal Reserve, they don't go run to Trump for permission to stop them, do they?
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He can't unless directed by POTUS.
 
Of course, they are working to get him elected.

It's amazing how there are still so many people, so called Patriots, that can't see how bad it is that Russia wants Trump to be our president. My god, Fox news propaganda has really done a number on them. They could probably get their supporters to defend ISIS if they wanted to
 
sangha said:
No, he did not say that.


Does he have authority to plant cyber-weapons in Russian computer networks?
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Thats EXACTLY what he said. He said he was doing his job. So what YOU mean is not does he have the authority to confound Russian attempt at intrusion, but does he in fact have the authority as the commander of the NSA to attack Russia. Right?
 
What Admiral Rogers said to Congress is that he is/has already doing/done everything possible under the vested authority he possesses.

Admiral Rogers says plainly that this is not enough. Putin and Russia continue to meddle.

Admiral Rogers would love to order Cyber Command to do far more to combat Russian online disinformation campaigns, but for that to happen, Admiral Rogers requires additional authority to act from Trump.

Trump has not granted Rogers the additional offensive/defensive authority required to better combat the Russian interference, and nothing indicates that Trump will do so.

Without actually saying it aloud, Admiral Rogers is informing Congress that Trump is being negligent here and guilty of indifference/malfeasance.
 
VanceMack said:
Thats EXACTLY what he said. He said he was doing his job. So what YOU mean is not does he have the authority to confound Russian attempt at intrusion, but does he in fact have the authority as the commander of the NSA to attack Russia. Right?
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If it were EXACTLY what he said, your quote would have EXACTLY what you said he said. Instead, it was an entirely different string of words.

President Trump hasn't given an order to counter Russian meddling, NSA chief says

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) pressed Rogers on whether Russian activities, which intelligence officials say have included hacking emails and running social media campaigns, can be stopped “where they originate.”

"I don’t have the day-to-day authority to do that,” Rogers said.
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And there you have it! Rogers clearly stating that he does NOT have the authority to do something that would stop Russian attacks at their source.
 
sangha said:
If it were EXACTLY what he said, your quote would have EXACTLY what you said he said. Instead, it was an entirely different string of words.

President Trump hasn't given an order to counter Russian meddling, NSA chief says



And there you have it! Rogers clearly stating that he does NOT have the authority to do something that would stop Russian attacks at their source.
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Yes...the compliant democrat senator asked the compliant NSA director nice tidy setup questions that leftist minions could cling to as if there was some sort of mass conspiracy going on.

What is his JOB? Does he have the authority to do his JOB? Does the president even have the ABILITY to order the head of ANY agency to 'exceed his authority' (his words)? And do you want an open declaration that we are attacking Russia? Do you even have the first ****ing clue what you are on about?
 
sangha said:
And there you have it! Rogers clearly stating that he does NOT have the authority to do something that would stop Russian attacks at their source.
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Indeed. And also saying (OP) that Trump refuses to grant him the requisite authorities to combat the Russian cyber aggression.
 
apdst said:
If it's outside his authority, maybe he should stop complaining that he hasn't received a directive to address it. He might be mad because he isn't able to get away with abusing his authority.

Do they take the security of the nation serioisly? Their past track record says either they don't, or they're incompetant.
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He answered questions put to him by the Senate Armed Services Committee, as he is required to do by their power of over-sight. He didn't go up there on his own to complain. The senate told him to come to testify as to what he was doing, because it's his job to be looking into cyber attacks, hence his title, "Admiral Mike Rogers, director of both the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency". As I explained before, in the post you replied to, there are limitations on his and the other agencies just so they don't abuse their authority and also they have to rely on the president directing them to take action so that if "Russia pays a price", the president has given his approval first. Obviously the senate knows this or they would be called on the carpet for not taking action before now.

Since these agencies are our best hope, we should all hope these men are as serious as they look and sound and do their utmost to thwart the ongoing Russian interference. But they can't do that without the president's direction, which is still not forthcoming.
 
Gina said:
He answered questions put to him by the Senate Armed Services Committee, as he is required to do by their power of over-sight. He didn't go up there on his own to complain. The senate told him to come to testify as to what he was doing, because it's his job to be looking into cyber attacks, hence his title, "Admiral Mike Rogers, director of both the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency". As I explained before, in the post you replied to, there are limitations on his and the other agencies just so they don't abuse their authority and also they have to rely on the president directing them to take action so that if "Russia pays a price", the president has given his approval first. Obviously the senate knows this or they would be called on the carpet for not taking action before now.

Since these agencies are our best hope, we should all hope these men are as serious as they look and sound and do their utmost to thwart the ongoing Russian interference. But they can't do that without the president's direction, which is still not forthcoming.
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Any limitation put in place by law can't be lifted by the president.
 
apdst said:
Any limitation put in place by law can't be lifted by the president.
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That's untrue. They need executive direction to take the actions they need. They testified to the senate committee that that's what they need before they can act and if that were not the case, the senate would have rebuked them all in public.
 
Gina said:
That's untrue. They need executive direction to take the actions they need. They testified to the senate committee that that's what they need before they can act and if that were not the case, the senate would have rebuked them all in public.
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It's absolutely true that limitations, put in place by law can't be lifted by the president.

If they told the Senate that the reason they can't do what they need to do because of the law, then they're talking out of their 4th points of contact by blaming it on the president.

Now, if the law doesn't allow those agencies to act without the president's permission; there's something very wrong with the law. I doubt that's the case, though.
 
apdst said:
It's absolutely true that limitations, put in place by law can't be lifted by the president.

If they told the Senate that the reason they can't do what they need to do because of the law, then they're talking out of their 4th points of contact by blaming it on the president.

Now, if the law doesn't allow those agencies to act without the president's permission; there's something very wrong with the law. I doubt that's the case, though.
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They have a limitation to act on their own in this circumstance:
I’ve never been given any specific direction to take additional steps outside my authority,” Admiral Mike Rogers, director of both the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, told lawmakers. “I have taken the steps within my authority, you know, trying to be a good, pro-active commander,” Rogers said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “I have not been granted any additional authorities.” Rogers said he believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has clearly come to the conclusion that there’s little price to pay (for its U.S. election interference) and that therefore, ‘I can continue this activity.’ Clearly what we have done hasn’t been enough.” Rogers’ testimony was the second time this month that top U.S. intelligence officials have said that Trump has not ordered them to take any special measures to combat interference in the November elections in the United States,
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Rogers' testimony is there in black and white. The president can give Rogers and the other agencies additional authorities. He didn't say lift. He said he hadn't "been granted any additional authorities". Once again, if that were not true, the senate committee members would have corrected him. Vociferously. But they did not.

Take it up with whoever put the current rules in place and again, it's a good thing the national intelligence agencies cannot go off on a lark and take these kinds of actions without presidential approval.
 
apdst said:
Now, if the law doesn't allow those agencies to act without the president's permission; there's something very wrong with the law. I doubt that's the case, though.
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There is nothing wrong with the law. US Cyber Command would probably have to initiate offensive actions against Russia to convince Moscow that the US is serious. As with kinetic weapons, any US Combatant Commander would have to first clear offensive actions against Russia with the Joint Chiefs and the Trump White House before acting. Adm. Rogers is saying his Command can go no further without Trumps express (CinC) orders.
 
VanceMack said:
Yes...the compliant democrat senator asked the compliant NSA director nice tidy setup questions that leftist minions could cling to as if there was some sort of mass conspiracy going on.
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Yeah, it is another conspiracy!! :lamo

Soon, you will be whining about Fake News :lamo

I wonder if you think the Republicans who asked him to testify are in on the conspiracy. After all, everyone is out to get Trump, right?
 
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