Advisers debate how much to declassify and reveal in Trump’s primetime election speech
By: Kevin Liptak (CNN)
Advisors? That seems a bit overly generous.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
July 16, 2926 -- President Donald Trump is expected to use his prime time address Thursday to reveal what he will claim is new information related to foreign efforts to influence US elections, though how much to reveal has been the subject of intense internal debate in the lead up to the speech, according to people familiar with the plans.
Alongside Trump’s speech, the White House has been weighing whether to release a cache of documents related to, among other topics, China and its role in US elections, the people said.
Some of the materials derive from intelligence gathered during Trump’s first term, which he and other officials will allege was suppressed, the people said.
Trump is also expected to discuss purported vulnerabilities in election infrastructure, including voting machines.
The exact contents of Trump’s speech have been closely held, though the president said this week that the address would include a major announcement related to election security.
“It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country,” Trump said. “We’ll be discussing other things too, but it’s going to be a very big announcement.”
A major effort has been underway inside the administration in recent weeks to locate intelligence information that could support Trump’s claims of widespread election fraud and interference. A task force, under the direction of conservative writer John Solomon, has been working to identify documents to be declassified and made public, the people familiar with the matter said.
Not all administration officials are on board with the effort, however. Some worry declassifying wide swaths of information could provide a muddled picture of American voting security and undermine confidence in elections. And others fear the information could risk jeopardizing intelligence collection methods.
Trump has faced criticism for denying election results and undermining public faith in the electoral process.
Jay Clayton, his nominee to serve as the director of national intelligence, notably hesitated in a confirmation hearing on Wednesday to say that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election – a fact Trump denies.
In the final moments of the hearing, Clayton acknowledged to Vice Chair Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, that Biden had been “fairly and duly elected under our process.”
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Apparently the broadcast networks are debating whether or not to air President Trump's fireside rant.
There are speculations on twitter that the big 3 networks will show Trumps speech on tape delay, allowing them to fact check it before they air it.
We are being dragged by Trump to a new low level.
The local stations here haven't changed their schedules. Maybe we'll be treated with more threats to pull FCC licenses.