theintercept | The White House press secretary did not directly dispute the revelation
that Blackwater founder Erik Prince and former Iran-Contra figure
Oliver North pitched a plan to develop a private spy network to members
of the Trump administration.
The plan, detailed in a story broken by The Intercept
on Monday, is to develop a private intelligence network to counter
perceived “deep state” enemies within the ranks of government. Prince
denied the report, and North did not respond to The Intercept’s request
for comment.
“I’m not aware of any plans for something of that definition or anything similar to that at this time,” said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, in response to a question from CBS News’s Major Garrett about the story.
Garrett followed up to ask if President Donald Trump “would be
opposed” to an outside spy network operating on his behalf. Sanders said
she was unaware.
Garrett asked to Sanders to confirm whether any administration official had been briefed on such a network.
“I’m not going to answer some random hypothetical. Did some random
person off the street come in and say something? I don’t know,” Sanders said.
And finally, Garrett asked if it was an idea Trump would consider.
“Again, I haven’t asked him, but its not something that’s currently in the works,” Sanders replied.
A White House official later told
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman that the proposal was indeed
pitched to the Trump administration, but that there is no sign the
president himself was briefed.
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