(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Reckless, Feckless, or just plain Stupid? [1] ['Greg Dworkin', 'Bill In Portland Maine'] Date: 2026-07-08 https://www.govexec.com/technology/2026/07/trump-says-pulte-can-declassify-whatever-he-wants-sparking-fears-exposing-intelligence-secrets/41457 Fresh off his stint at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he served as Thrump’s attack dog, ginning up and referring contrived charges to the DOJ against Leticia James, James Comey, Lisa Cook, Eric Swalwell, alleging mortgage fraud, William Pulte, now the acting head of DNI, succeeding Tulsi Gabbard in that role, has Thrump’s permission to declassify “whatever” records he wants and can declassify “almost everything,” a sweeping green light that has alarmed former intelligence officials, who warn that careless releases could expose sensitive intelligence capabilities and sidestep standard review processes with other spy agencies. Trump said Wednesday [July 1st] that acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte would only serve in the job for “a month or two months or something,” but has his permission in the interim to release classified records. “Bill is there just for a fairly short period of time,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. “But while he’s there, I said you can declassify whatever you want.” By law, there is a process to be followed when declassifying records to identify national security risks before releasing them to the public, but Thrump’s permission doesn’t address how, or if, the agencies that created the records would be consulted, particularly if disclosure could expose that agency’s operations, but that consultation might be skipped entirely under Pulte, a second former official said. “My guess is that NSA and CIA are losing their minds at the idea of Pulte declassifying a lot of stuff,” said a former official, who, like others for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid and for fear of retribution. “If Pulte actually runs the traps and considers damage and balances, he won’t declassify much. If he doesn’t care about blowing up cyber exploits, putting foreign relationships at risk, or getting people killed, he could declassify a lot,” the former official added. Since his reelection in 2024, Thrump has been on a revenge bender, against the intelligence community for what he says are political attacks against him, personally, since the 2016 campaign, as well as his impeachments in 2019 and 2021. “Trump’s statement alone saying that Pulte has this authority is damaging to national security because any person thinking about volunteering or working with the United States might think twice now, and is more likely to go to the Brits or another service,” a third former official said, adding that if Pulte moves to declassify intelligence involving other agencies, he would be in violation of the law. The president “just signaled to any person providing intelligence to the United States that their intelligence can be released at Pulte’s whim, thus putting their entire security and safety in jeopardy,” the third former official added. NBC News reported on June 30th, that a White House task force is compiling thousands of intelligence and law enforcement documents, largely related to the 2020 election, with plans for selective release to bolster Thrump’s contentions that the election was tainted by fraud and other irregularities. ———————————————————————————————————— While doing some research for this diary, I came across this article from ABC News, listing the targets of Thrump’s grievances. It is jarring to see all of his attacks in one list. In addition to the people listed above, the Thrump administration has accused, or charged, or investigated, the following people: 6 members of Congress– for releasing a video about refusing illegal orders John Bolton– for possessing classified documents (he has pled guilty in that case) Jerome Powell– for testimony he gave to Congress regarding the renovation of Federal Reserve buildings Sen. Adam Shiff– Property insurance fraud Chris Christy– BridgeGate, the George Washington Bridge closures Jack Smith– Hatch Act violations Miles Taylor, former chief of staff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – For authoring an anonymous Op-Ed in the NYT saying that there were, “senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of [Trump’s] agenda and his worst inclinations,” Christopher Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency – For contradicting Thrump’s claims of election fraud in the 2020 election Former President Joe Biden– Classified documents Former President Barack Obama– for Treason ————————————————————————- He also revoked or threatened to revoke Secret Service protection or a security detail from the following: Kamala Harris Hunter Biden Ashley Biden Alejandro Mayorkas, former U.S. secretary of Homeland Security Mike Pompeo, former secretary of state Brian Hook, former U.S. special representative for Iran Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ———————————————————————————————- Revoked Security Clearances from the following: Because it was “no longer in the national interest” Joe Biden Antony Blinken, former secretary of state Jacob Sullivan, former national security adviser Lisa Monaco, former deputy attorney general Mark Zaid, whistleblower attorney Norman Eisen, co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during first Trump impeachment Letitia James, New York attorney general Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney Andrew Weissmann, lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s special counsel’s office Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House Jan. 6 Committee Kamala Harris, former vice president, 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Adam Kinzinger, member of House Jan. 6 Committee Fiona Hill, witness in 2019 House impeachment inquiry Alexander Vindman, witness in 2019 House impeachment inquiry ————————————————————————————————————– For signing a letter discrediting the reporting about the Hunter Biden “scandal” John Bolton, former national security adviser James Clapper Jr., former U.S. director of national intelligence Michael Hayden, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency Leon Panetta, former U.S. secretary of defense John Brennan, former director of Central Intelligence Thomas Fingar, former chair of the National Intelligence Council Richard Ledgett, former deputy director of the National Security Agency Michael Morell, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency Michael Vickers, former under secretary of defense for intelligence Douglas Wise, deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Nicholas Rasmussen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center Russell Travers, former U.S. acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center Andrew Liepman, former principal deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center John Moseman, former chief of staff for the Central Intelligence Agency Larry Pfeiffer, former chief of staff at the Central Intelligence Agency Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff at the Central Intelligence Agency Rodney Snyder, former chief of staff at the Central Intelligence Agency Glenn S. Gerstell, former general counsel of the National Security Agency David B. Buckley, former inspector general at Central Intelligence Agency Additional [50] former intelligence officials associated with Hunter Biden laptop probe Miscellaneous reasons 37 former intelligence leaders associated with assessment of Russia’s attempt to influence 2016 election Miles Taylor, former chief of staff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security: because he “stoked dissension,” published classified information, and violated his oath of office. Christopher Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: because he was a “significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his Government authority.” No reason given Kimberly Cheatle, former director of Secret Service ————————————————————————————– Plus, his extortion of the law firms who represented many of these people, or otherwise displeased him: – Covington & Burling – Perkins Coie – Jenner & Block – Milbank – WilmerHale – Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom – Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison – Willkie Farr & Gallagher [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/7/8/800066797/community/reckless-feckless-or-just-plain-stupid/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/