“I’ve got fresh evidence 13 CIA senior officers helped in Turkey failed Coup. I will divulge the names in the coming days.” Donald Trump — 15 August 2016

In a message posted on August 15 2016, Trump claimed that he had evidence that the CIA was involved in the July 15 2016 attempted coup. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

UPDATE — One year later, there is no still evidence whatsoever that the CIA was involved in the attempted coup. Of course, in general, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. But in this case, you would think that Turkey would have discovered some evidence of the CIA involvement. True or not, Trump’s messages must have given a few CIA officers a pause…

Also, despite Turkey’s repeated claims, there seems to be no evidence that Muhammad Fethullah Gülen — whatever his links to the CIA may be — was directly involved in this coup.

Perhaps, the most bizarre episode of this saga is the infamous meeting of General Mike Flynn discussing with high-level Turkish officials the possibility to snatch Gulen out of the US! To be continued… END of UPDATE

Donald Trump, the US Republican presidential candidate, claims in his new tweet that he has evidence that CIA officers helped in Turkey’s attempted coup.

In two consecutive tweets posted on his official Twitter page, Trump said he obtained evidence that will prove 13 high-ranking CIA officers helped in Turkey’s “Failed Coup” and that Obama’s “failed leadership” caused this “stupid mistake” witch put USA interest in Middle East at risk. [AWD News]

The Tweet

A pic of the tweet has been published by FARS News Agency. (Trump: CIA Officers Helped Turkey Coup Attempt, Evidence Available)

“I’ve got fresh evidence 13 CIA senior officers helped in Turkey Failed Coup. I will divulge the names in the coming days.”

This tweet was erased a bit later… The message raises a few questions. Where did Trump — and his staff — get this information? Is it true? If so, who are these CIA senior officers? Will Trump really divulge their identities?

UPDATE (23 August 2016)

A reader asks: “Did Trump learn about this from his Intelligence Briefings?”

The answer is: No. Even if we assume for the time being that the CIA did indeed play a role in the Coup, Trump could not have learned the name of these CIA officers from the Briefings.

Firstly, Trump received his first Intelligence Briefing on August 17 and the two tweets were posted on August 15.

Secondly, these Briefings are ‘informative’ and do not go into specific details. Briefing Officers don’t share ‘sources, intelligence-gathering strategies or particulars of ongoing covert operations’.

Former CIA agent David Priess served both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations as ‘an intelligence officer and each day intelligence briefer on the CIA.

Priess, author of The President’s Book of Secrets, told Inside Edition Trump was brought up to speed on “things like ISIS, the situation in Syria, the threat from China. So the issues are serious.” “They can be very informative on a whole range of policy issues, but do not give away the inner workings of the U.S. government’s operations overseas.”

You can watch David Priess on this video:

PS — The Intelligence briefings is offered as a courtesy. The President has last say on who shall be briefed and what data they obtain.

Both candidates receive identical information: unbiased, goal evaluation of conditions abroad.

After the election, the winner can be eligible for briefings containing much more delicate information.

REFERENCES

Trump: CIA officers helped Turkey coup attempt, evidence available

Trump : « 13 agents de la CIA ont soutenu la tentative de coup d’Etat échouée du 15 juillet »

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Trump and the Attempted Coup in Turkey : “13 CIA senior officers helped in Failed Coup”

One Year Ago –Trump and the Attempted Coup in Turkey : “13 CIA senior officers helped in Failed Coup”