By Ray McGovern, March 27, 2019
Following is text of an email Ray wrote to Scott Horton following his interview of Ray on Tuesday, March 26. ( See earlier posting:
https://raymcgovern.com/2019/03/31/who-got-it-right-on-russia-gate/ )
Dear Scott,
To correct a key point, for the record.
I recall saying during our interview yesterday that two former Technical Directors at NSA, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) members, relying on the principles of physics and forensic analysis had disproven “beyond reasonable doubt” the red herring that Russia hacked the DNC emails and gave them to WikiLeaks. At which point you referred to dissent within VIPS on that key issue.
You need to be aware that, from the beginning, that dissent had no technical merit. It was used for political purposes — which, of course, is a far cry from what intelligence analysis is all about. Now, the “dissent within VIPS” is an urban legend — a mischievous one. This is why I write.
In summer 2017, the HWHW (Hillary Would Have Won) virus was still so rampant at The Nation, for example, that the editors decided to throw Patrick Lawrence under the bus after commissioning and publishing his article, then telling the media his piece (based on our VIPS memo to the president of July 24, 2017) was “under review.” Then The Nation went even further in publishing technically dubious comments from “dissenters.”
Little more has been heard from the dissenters. As happened from the very start of our drafting, their leader, Thomas Drake, still refuses to engage with our ex-NSA Technical Directors (his fellow NSA “alumni”) and does not respond to queries from others. Should you wish to verify this, get in touch with Bill Binney and Tom Drake.
With the collapse of the Trump-Russia collusion story and vindication of what VIPSers have been saying for more than two and a half years, several people have asked us to write a “we-told-you-so-article.” That’s not our style.
At the same time, the highly relevant technical evidence that has accumulated since summer 2017 shows VIPS to have been operating in the best tradition of intelligence analysis in placing trust in the most accomplished, objective, and reliable specialists with proven records in the precise areas at issue. (This became a lot easier as VIPS specialists were able to refute the endless “but-what-if” evidence-less conjectures. The dissenters faded into the woodwork.)
It was not clear to me, Scott, that you had read VIPS’ most recent memo, addressed this time to Attorney General Barr. https://raymcgovern.com/2019/03/13/vips-muellers-forensics-free-findings/. I think it is must-reading. As for the mischievous obfuscation enabled by the erstwhile dissenters, I shall include below an excerpt from an article written by Elizabeth Vos earlier this year.
https://disobedientmedia.com/2019/02/russiagate-in-flames-no-evidence-of-collusion-new-findings-challenge-dnc-hack-narrative/
Excerpt
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The Real Cost Of Russiagate
Though Russiagate may be summed up as a never-ending theatrical performance designed to hold attention rather than prove itself, that does not mean that the saga has had no tangible effects in the real world. Regardless of what one makes of the legitimacy of Russiagate or any one of its sub-narratives, we can all agree that it has wreaked havoc directly and indirectly on many fronts.
Journalist and award-winning author Patrick Lawrence wrote a ground-breaking article with The Nation in August of 2017, covering a Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) memorandum to President Trump. The memo, and Lawrence’s article, indicated that the Guccifer 2.0 persona had published documents that were likely accessed locally, rather than hacked remotely.
The repercussions for Lawrence – professional, financial, personal – continued for many months. In an interview, Lawrence told Disobedient Media: “My working principle from the first is that disagreements and other such matters internal to a publication – any publication – shouldn’t be aired outside the newsroom door. When I was trained, you’d be summarily fired if you went public with such a stunt. I thought this at the time my article came out, and on that same principle, I won’t comment now.” Lawrence concluded: “I should add I have no reason to retract a single syllable of what I wrote.”
A hit-piece authored last year by Duncan Campbell [presented a] disastrously inaccurate depiction of the opinion of Bill Binney and other VIPS members.
NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake was also quoted in the piece, comparing CIA veteran and VIPS co-founder Ray McGovern with George W. Bush’s politicization of intelligence in the lead-up to the Iraq War.
Most readers do not require the reminder that McGovern and other members of VIPS were strongly opposed to the faulty intelligence used by the Bush administration as a pretext for the 2003 war in Iraq. This history makes Drake’s comparison particularly odious … Disobedient Media reached out to Drake for comment on this point and others, to which we received no reply by the time of publication.
McGovern spoke with Disobedient Media, saying: “I knew Tom Drake to be a straight shooter, an impression strengthened by our teamwork in Moscow presenting Ed Snowden with the Sam Adams integrity award that Tom himself had won two years before. I normally cut Tom some slack, in view of all he has been through. But when he belatedly took issue with the key VIPS memo of July 24, 2017 on “Russian hacking,” and made claims unsupported by evidence (claims strongly challenged by his fellow NSA “alumni” in VIPS), I, as chair of that memo, had to call him out of order. He reacted poorly and seems now to be in for further embarrassment.”
Disobedient Media also spoke with Bill Binney, who told this author:
“Tom has been a friend of mine for about 20 years. During that time he has demonstrated sound analytic judgment on technical issues with the exception of one. That is the issue of Russiagate and association with the Trump campaign and administration. In this case, I believe he has allowed himself to be diverted by the rather large hoard of emotionally motivated who are intent on associating the Russians with Trump to form the basis for impeachment. They have and continue to convict Trump based on statements made by large numbers of people – as if that were proof of anything. So, on this issue, a good chunk of the US population have lost their objectivity and instead of demanding proof based on observable facts (available to be inspected) they accept assertions generated by emotion. The true test will be in a court of law where all these assertions would be treated as hearsay and inadmissible as none are first-hand observers.”
…
When asked about the real-world implications of Russiagate thus far, Ray McGovern – who, as we remind our readers, is a former CIA analyst with decades of experience during the Cold War period – expressed deep concern, saying:
“I worry about what conclusions President Putin may draw from attempts to demonize him and to make Russia a pariah. Inflammatory rhetoric can be prelude to war. Worse still, the temperament and hubris of President Trump’s advisers are a far cry from the sage, sober advice Ambassador Llewellyn Thompson, for example, gave President Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Shattered, at this point, is any residual hope Putin may have harbored that Trump would be able to improve ties with Russia. Trump is not his own man. Putin, thus, must prepare for the worst. This is the most serious damage from the Russia-gate narrative so far.”
Patrick Lawrence also appraised the damage done by Russiagate in a piece published via Consortium News, writing: “Numerous sets of sanctions against Russia, individual Russians, and Russian entities have been imposed on the basis of this great conjuring of assumption and presumption.”
As described by McGovern and Lawrence, the tensions raised between two major nuclear powers is perhaps the most important real-world result of over two years of neo-McCarthyist fervor in the US. … Russiagate has been endlessly hyped to deflect from public outrage that rightfully erupted in response to overt election interference by the Democratic Party in the 2016 primary season. It has been used in an attempt to mask the failure of the Democrats and specifically Hillary Clinton as a Presidential candidate. …
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Finally, Bill Binney is not known for tooting his own horn. Besides, for obvious reasons, the mainstream — and most “progressive” alternative media — have shunned him. (Even a few non-technical VIPS members failed to do due diligence on Binney before they joined the “dissenters.”) Since you will not see Bill on MSNBC, or even Democracynow.org, here are three links to click on, should you be interested in knowing more:
1 —
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9TyASfZV0c
Explanation of recent findings begins at minute 29:55. The use of FAT — the File Allocation Table — for copying onto a storage devise before publication by WikiLeaks is discussed starting at minute 34:50
2 —
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHZXVWUxxDU&
August 13, 2018, interview with Jimmy Dore discussing Binney’s additional findings on “Guccifer 2.0” in 2018
“Mueller’s Indictments Debunked By NSA Whistle-blower”
3 —
Full-length documentary about Bill, BANNED from a theater near you:
“A Good American” Watch it for free on YouTube.
Best regards,
Ray