Lately, important liberal publications have run pieces saying emphatically that in stark contrast to various Middle East authoritarian countries, there is no such thing as a Deep State in U.S. government. “There Is No Deep State,” is the title of David Remnick’s piece in the New Yorker. There is no “subterranean web of common and nefarious purpose,” he says; rather, individuals in the intelligence agencies are leaking information about Donald Trump because they’re government servants taking action against “an untruthful, vain, vindictive, alarmingly erratic President.”

In the New York Times, Max Fisher makes a very similar argument, and concludes with alarm that Trump is aiming at the “deconstruction of the administrative state” — which is an important check on his power to do harm.

These articles do not address the substantive difference over how to deal with Russia between Trump and establishment figures who at the very least are guilty of group-think. Philip Giraldi argues that the leaks that upended the execrable Flynn at the NSC had this very policy objective: “the officials who shared the phone transcripts [are] much more dangerous than conventional leakers motivated by some personal grievance or desire to right a wrong. I fear that the current crop of Russia skeptics are true believers of the worst kind and will do whatever it takes to disrupt any moves toward rapprochement between Washington and Moscow.”

Today the Intercept has published an excellent interview of Edward Snowden by Jeremy Scahill, conducted at the South by Southwest Festival.

Scahill asked about the deep state issue, and cited the conventional wisdom: “There seems to be an emerging consensus among influential liberal pundits and political figures, politicians in the Democratic Party that there’s this awesome group of NSA people who are protecting the republic from Donald Trump… The Deep State is trying to undermine Donald Trump and really in secret trying to protect us from the dangers of his administration.”

Snowden, appearing by video from Moscow, responded: