Fred Fleitz to Newsmax TV: ‘Swamp’ intelligence officials leaked Trump briefings

Originally published by Newsmax

Career intelligence officers “definitely” leaked President Donald Trump’s restricted daily briefings, which reportedly carried warnings from the U.S. intelligence community about the rapidly growing coronavirus epidemic, Center for Security Policy Fred Fleitz, a former chief of staff for ex-National Security Adviser John Bolton, told Newsmax TV Tuesday.

“This was a leak by the intelligence swamp of the president’s very restricted Daily Brief, which he gets every day,” Fleitz told Newsmax TV’s “Spicer & Co.” “It’s not shared with Congress. This leak definitely came from career officials.”

Further, he pointed out, acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell has denied that the story was true. Grenell tweeted to Ellen Nakashima, the national security writer for The Washington Post and one of the writers on the first story about the brief, that the newspaper knew the claims weren’t true, but they reported the article anyway.

But even assuming there were warnings, the intelligence community is always making “dire predictions,” said Fleitz. He pointed out that Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the key medical experts in the coronavirus task force, told reporters in both January and February interviews that at that point, the United States was not under a serious threat.

However, he said, the left has “long used intelligence” against Republican presidents but to help Democrats.

“Their views of career intelligence officers is like gospel truth,” said Fleitz. “You have to go with it. But we know intelligence is not foolproof. It’s not infallible. It is really incredible. The press is always prepared to take the word of intelligence officials.”