Former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell Can't Keep His Stories Straight

Just last Friday, former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell opined in the pages of the New York Times: “I ran the CIA. Now I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton.” He added that Donald Trump “may be a national security threat” due to his connections with Russia.

But just last November on Face the Nation, Morell was in favor of Trump’s approach.

So what does Morell really believe?

Here is the NYT tweeting about Morell’s op-ed, followed by Monday’s interview with CBS where Morell said he wanted to “scare Assad” and kill Russians:

He ran the CIA. Now he’s endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. https://t.co/MAbSD4DFBO via @nytopinion pic.twitter.com/T0UYEJGz52

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 5, 2016

 

“When we were in Iraq, the Iranians were giving weapons to the Shi’a militia, who were killing American soldiers,” Morell told “CBS This Morning” co-host Charlie Rose.

“The Iranians were making us pay a price. We need to make the Iranians pay a price in Syria. We need to make the Russians pay a price.”

He went on to explain making them “pay the price” would mean killing Russians and Iranians, and said he wants to make Syrian president Bashar al-Assad uncomfortable.

“I want to go after those things that Assad sees as his personal power base. I want to scare Assad.“

Now, here’s Morell back in November advising the opposite: that the U.S. needs to reconsider engagement with Assad and Putin as part of a rethinking of U.S. counter-ISIS strategy:

So should we be scaring Assad and killing Russians in Syria, or should we be engaging the Assad regime and Putin to counter ISIS?

Don’t expect the Washington, D.C. media to press Morell over that contradiction.

Or this one: in his New York Times oped, Morell also suggested that Donald Trump had been recruited by Putin as “an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.”

But, as I noted at PJ Media two weeks ago, Hillary Clinton has her own Russia problems — namely, a Russian spy ring that the FBI had to shut down because it was getting too close to Clinton. That Russia problem is in addition to the millions the Clinton Foundation received while a government board that Hillary sat on as secretary of State was considering approval of the sale of a majority stake of Uranium One — which controls 20 percent of U.S. uranium assets — to Rosatom, the Russian atomic energy agency.

Also, Bill Clinton received $500,000 to give a speech in Moscow on behalf of a Russian investment bank tied to the Uranium One deal.

Morell has also said that he trusts Clinton with our national security:

“I worked with her for four years very closely when she was secretary of state and I was at the CIA. I provided her — personally provided her some of the most sensitive information that the Central Intelligence Agency has,” he said.

“She never misused it. She always protected it.” He added: “I would trust her with the crown jewels of the United States government. And, more importantly, I would trust her with the future security of the country and the future security of my kids.

But is Mike Morell trustworthy?

One telling indicator in this episode is that Morell’s New York Times oped failed to disclose that the PR firm Morell works for, Beacon Global Security, advises Hillary’s campaign:

…nothing against Morell, he’s an expert in many areas, but his employment at pro-Hillary PR firm is required disclosure (in my opinion).

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) August 5, 2016

Morell’s colleagues at Beacon Global Security (a PR firm) actively advise HRC. This was a tightly coordinated stunt. pic.twitter.com/h9dJgZh26Q

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) August 5, 2016

As the Daily Caller notes, Morell lied when he appeared on ABC News’ This Week claiming that no Iraqi refugees had become terrorists. Two Iraqi refugees who had been settled in Bowling Green, Kentucky, were indicted and convicted by the Justice Department on terrorism charges.

Morell also claimed that Trump’s comments have been used by ISIS recruiters. Well, he failed to acknowledge that his own comments have appeared in official ISIS publications:

IRONY Clinton says Trump’s comments bolster IS recruitment. Never mind that Morell was featured in Dabiq, is. 13 pic.twitter.com/ApVWnY7KoQ— Michael S. Smith II (@MichaelSSmithII) August 5, 2016

Morell has also been at the center of the Obama administration’s attempts to rewrite the narrative of what happened in Benghazi — events Morell was directly involved in. In 2014, two members of the Senate Intelligence Committee said that Morell lied during testimony they had received on the Benghazi debacle:

Here’s some background on previous contradictions in Morell’s #Benghazi claims. http://t.co/376Wq5pEZn

— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) April 2, 2014

When his book came out last year, Morell was slammed again for trying to rewrite the administration’s “blame the video” Benghazi narrative:

Important questions from @stephenfhayes about Mike Morell’s account of Benghazi #CIA http://t.co/jJJ0Ni6Fjw

— John Schindler (@20committee) May 18, 2015

So, when Mike Morell:

• Can’t get his story straight on whether we should engage Assad and Putin
• Won’t disclose his direct ties to the Clinton campaign through Beacon Global Security when endorsing Hillary
• Ignores Clinton’s own Russia scandals while claiming Trump is Putin’s “unwitting agent”
• Lies about past failures of vetting refugees who turned to terrorism
• Attacks Trump for being used by ISIS for propaganda purposes when HIS OWN comments have been used by ISIS for recruiting
• and plays an active role in covering up Hillary’s Benghazi debacle

… then it’s time to question not only whether the attention paid to Morell by the D.C. media is warranted, but whether Mike Morell — who spent 33 years in the business of lying and deception — is trustworthy at all.