PRESS & MEDIA
Clapper: Barr publicly raising Trump campaign spying concerns is scary
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper criticized Attorney General William Barr on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° for raising concerns about federal surveillance during President Trump’s 2016 campaign with the Senate Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday.
BY Rebecca Falconer
Former National Intelligence Director James Clapper Photo: Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper criticized Attorney General William Barr on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° for raising concerns about federal surveillance during President Trump’s 2016 campaign with the Senate Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday.
Details: Clapper told host Anderson Cooper it was "stunning and scary" that Barr told a public hearing this. Barr should've sought a briefing from the Justice Department's inspector general on the investigation into whether the FBI mishandled warrant applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Clapper said.
The backdrop: Barr said during his exchange with the subcommittee he thought "spying did occur" and he needed to explore whether that was adequately predicated, though stressed he wasn't saying this occurred. He said had no evidence he could "cite right now" of wrongdoing by the FBI or Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia investigation. He said he would review "the genesis and conduct" of the probe.
What he's saying: "It would have been far more appropriate for him to just defer to that investigation rather than postulating with apparently no evidence. He just has a feeling that there was spying against the campaign," Clapper told Cooper.
Read the full article here.
There Is Actually Some Good News Out of Our National Division
In the midst of our nation's relentless political tug-of-war, 'tis the season to unwrap a surprising dose of holiday cheer. Beneath the cacophony of partisan clashes, a flicker of hope is emerging.
By Patricia Duff and Tom Rogers
The Common Good founder; Newsweek editor-at-large
In the midst of our nation's relentless political tug-of-war, 'tis the season to unwrap a surprising dose of holiday cheer. Beneath the cacophony of partisan clashes, a flicker of hope is emerging. The happy news comes from The Common Good, a non-partisan group championing for reasoned political dialogue and better governance. Its annual Survey on National Division conducted by Emerson College Polling aims to measure how divided we are, illuminate the causes, and reveal possible cures for our seemingly insurmountable political schisms.
And here's the twist: the results aren't all doom and gloom. In fact, they hand us a silver lining, suggesting that our deep-seated differences might not be as immovable as they appear.
According to The Common Good survey, a whopping 86 percent of respondents believe that those on the other side of the political fence are, at the very least, "good and honest people." And 46 percent actually think this is true "often" or "always." That's right, folks; beneath the surface of our heated debates, there's more goodwill than one would think even toward those with whom we disagree.
But wait, there's more. The survey reveals that a staggering number of folks—almost three-quarters (71 percent) of citizens—prefer compromise to governmental paralysis. Americans are signaling that their elected officials should sit down with the opposition and hash out solutions – even if it means not getting everything they want. It's truly a breath of fresh air in a room polluted by the smoke and smog of unyielding partisanship.
Read the Full Article by Patricia Duff and Tom Rogers Here
Newsweek: One Key Way to Stop Donald Trump From Being Our Next President | Opinion
Independents or non-affiliated voters are not being counted enough in primaries – and this is a big problem – especially for 2024. Read the full article by Tom Rogers and Susan Del Percio.
By Tom Rogers and Susan Del Percio
Independents or non-affiliated voters are not being counted enough in primaries – and this is a big problem – especially for 2024. The Common Good Index on National Division indicates that 88% of Americans believe the way political parties choose candidates is an important contributor to national division. We need to fix our primary system.
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Last fall The Common Good, a nonpartisan organization, released The Common Good Index of National Division, an annual index which quantifies the level of national division. The findings indicated "88 percent believe the way political parties choose candidates is an important contributor to national division. Twenty-five percent of Americans place that at the top of the list of things that most divide us.
The problem with non-affiliated voters is that their participation in partisan primaries is extremely low despite the impact their numbers could have if they were driven to vote.
Read the full article by Tom Rogers and Susan Del Percio here.
New York Social Diary: Debbie’s Week at a Glance - From Hollywood to the Hamptons
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It was a quiet weekend in Southampton, small family dinners, punctuated by a The Common Good conversation with Michael Wolff, author of “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” and now “The Siege: Trump Under Fire.” Bonnie Lautenberg, widow of Senator Frank Lautenberg, and accomplished photographer, hosted in her lovely Watermill home, filled with her pictures of moments in history, captured during her fascinating life with Frank, and her new series of film stills married with artwork from the same period. To Wolff’s credit, or was it … when asked if he would comment on Epstein (before his demise), he said ‘No’.