New in SpyWeek: Deep State Be Gone!

CIA, NSA, ODNI and other US intelligence agencies targeted for big cuts as Michael Waltz unceremoniously exits National Security Council.

Sure, we could start by rehashing the bust of  Michael Waltz from National Security Adviser down to U.N. ambassador (a lowly post to conservatives), but there’s so much more to address in our world beyond the usual deck chair shuffles that have long been a hallmark of a Donald Trump’s administration. As in Trump 1.0, he’ll likely go through a couple more NSAs before this term is over. But it is worth noting that, according to reports, Signalgate wasn’t his only problem: Waltz was out of step with Trump’s general allergy to U.S. military adventures abroad, in particular a joint U.S.-Israeli air strike on Iran pressed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which Waltz reportedly embraced to his peril. Far right hallucinator and unofficial Trump national security adviser Laura Loomer, meanwhile, celebrated the expulsion of Waltz—and his deputy Alex Wong—with one word: “scalp.” 

Blood on the Tracks: The bigger news to us, courtesy of The Washington Post’s  Warren P. Strobel,  was Trump’s plan for a “major downsizing at U.S. spy agencies,” which would include a cut of 1,200 positions at the CIA, “along with thousands more from other parts of the U.S. intelligence community…including at the National Security Agency, a highly secretive service that specializes in cryptology and global electronic espionage, a person familiar with the matter said.”