CNN reported last night that the White House has asked the intelligence community to present them with evidence that will support Trump's Muslim ban which was vanquished at the 9th Circuit Court.
No such evidence exists, meaning the Trump regime is effectively asking the intelligence community to cook the books.
Other Trump administration sources tell CNN that this is an assignment that has caused concern among some administration intelligence officials, who see the White House charge as the politicization of intelligence -- the notion of a conclusion in search of evidence to support it after being blocked by the courts. Still others in the intelligence community disagree with the conclusion and are finding their work disparaged by their own department. [...]
One of the ways the White House hopes to make its case is by using a more expansive definition of terrorist activity than has been used by other government agencies in the past. The senior White House official said he expects the report about the threat from individuals the seven countries to include not just those terrorist attacks that have been carried out causing loss of innocent American life, but also those that have resulted in injuries, as well as investigations into and convictions for the crimes of a host of terrorism-related actions, including attempting to join or provide support for a terrorist organization.
Anyone born prior to September 11th, 2001 can likely recall where this kind of behavior can lead. Our invasion of another country was predicated on false intelligence reports.
The intelligence community ought to be reluctant to cooperate with the Trump regime because they will be blamed for whatever happens just as they were blamed by the Bush administration. The intelligence community has already been blamed and attacked by the Trump regime and nothing has even happened yet.
The fact that this was leaked to the press is a good sign. It will put all of the White House's intelligence-based judgments under a microscope.
Update... the Associated Press obtained a copy of an internal report from the Department of Homeland Security that found no evidence to support Trump's Muslim Ban.
A draft document obtained by The Associated Press concludes that citizenship is an "unlikely indicator" of terrorism threats to the United States and that few people from the countries Trump listed in his travel ban have carried out attacks or been involved in terrorism-related activities in the U.S. since Syria's civil war started in 2011.
Trump used terrorism a primary justification when he announced the now court-blocked travel ban in late January.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Gillian Christensen does not dispute the report's authenticity, but says it was not a final comprehensive review of the government's intelligence.