Trump’s War on the 'Deep State’ Turns Against Him
Peter Baker, Lara Jakes, Julian E. Barnes, Sharon LaFraniere and Edward Wong
3 hrs ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20191024154732/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trumps-war-on-the-deep-state-turns-against-him/ar-AAJgdNT?li=BBnb7Kz
Nameless, faceless and voiceless, the C.I.A. officer who first triggered the greatest threat to President Trump’s tenure in office seemed to be practically the embodiment of the “deep state” that the president has long accused of trying to take him down.
But over the last three weeks, the deep state has emerged from the shadows in the form of real live government officials, past and present, who have defied a White House attempt to block cooperation with House impeachment investigators and provided evidence that largely backs up the still-anonymous whistle-blower.
The witnesses heading to Capitol Hill do not consider themselves part of any nefarious deep state, but simply public servants who have loyally worked for administrations of both parties only to be denigrated, sidelined or forced out of jobs by a president who marinates in suspicion and conspiracy theories.
But it is also true that some career officials, alarmed at what they saw inside the corridors of government agencies, have sought ways to thwart Mr. Trump’s aims by slow-walking his orders, keeping information from him, leaking to reporters or enlisting allies in Congress to intervene.
And so what is “karmic justice” for the career establishment feels like validation to Mr. Trump and his circle that they were right all along.
The notion of a deep state of unelected bureaucrats secretly plotting to control government has a long history but until recently was more associated with foreign countries like Turkey or Egypt. In the United States, it was largely relegated to the political fringe or the subject of Hollywood thrillers.
But other presidents have viewed career officials warily at times. Ronald Reagan regularly derided bureaucrats and they in turn derided him. Bill Clinton fired the White House Travel Office staff fearing it was loyal to his predecessor. George W. Bush grew frustrated that career diplomats disregarded his “freedom agenda” foreign policy. Mr. Obama was convinced that the military leadership tried to box him into decisions he did not want to make.
Still, none of them went to war with the professional staff the way Mr. Trump has, a war fomented in part by far-right media and conspiracy theorists who have gained favor in the Trump era, propelling wild ideas into mainstream conversation. Bookstore shelves are stocked by new volumes with “deep state” in the title. The Epix television thriller “Deep State” refers to a president “who tweets like a teenage girl” being pressured by sinister forces to go to war.
“Washington hasn’t taken the deep state idea seriously; they treat it as a badge of honor or an inside joke,” said John Gans, the author of “White House Warriors,” a history of the National Security Council. “But it is a concern around the country. And one that has been stoked on the right by those who support the president.”
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Very looooong article worth reading full of excuses and desperately backpedaling - we're good guys!