The United States’ recent decision to declassify the evidence surrounding the premeditated murder of Jamal Khashoggi was the right thing to do. It told us which actors were involved in the decision-making and execution process, how and where the killing occurred, and why Khashoggi’s killers conducted the murder in the first place.
The massive outcry from the public ultimately led to the truth’s exposition. This previously unseen information gave us needed answers. It revealed the treacherous actions of the abusive regime in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. wanted the world to know the truth about this event.
Hopefully, the intelligence will also ensure that those culpable in the Saudi government will be held accountable. To ignore these brazen actions would be tantamount to being part of the cover-up.
The strong-armed tactics used by the Saudis contaminates every fundamental pillar of democracy in America and abroad. Unmasking the truth, regardless of its implications, preserves our faith and belief in our system of a democratic republic.
Yet, there remains a disheartening duplicity behind the U.S. government’s intelligence declassifications.
Where it decides the world deserves honesty in one instance, it deliberately hides it in another.
It is perfectly acceptable for the U.S. government to expose corrupt acts of other foreign powers. But it seems that revealing deceitful operations within our own borders is unthinkable.
The prime example of this behavior can be found in Russiagate.
After more than four years, the American people still do not have the whole truth regarding the now-debunked Russia collusion scandal, nor about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s failed investigation into that matter.
We do not know all the details of how Russiagate started. We are unaware of the total number of corrupt government officials involved and their specific roles. Entire pieces of the story are missing. Others are being swept under the rug.
Even after President Trump unilaterally ordered the declassification of material related to the Russia probe, forces inside his own administration subverted his order by refusing to disclose that information.
Reams of declassified material should have been opened up to the American people; Instead it remains hidden.
This fact raises serious and disturbing questions about our own government.
Why would some U.S. government officials deceive its own citizens? Why do they want to hide the truth from the American people? What are they afraid will happen?
Sadly, the answer is simple.
Numerous government insiders thwarted President Trump’s directive to release the truth in order to protect themselves. In doing so, they likely subverted our country’s rule of law and assuredly tainted our trust in government.
The evidence we have seen indicates that these "insiders" include John Brennan, James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Rod Rosenstein, and so many others. It is obvious that they politicized and abused their power in an attempt to remove a duly elected president.
They were caught, the evidence suggests, lying to the American people. These "public servants" apparently did not want the complete truth to be known. They still do not want to be held accountable for their misguided actions.
And when they failed to unseat President Trump, they did exactly what the Saudis attempted to do; They tried to cover it all up.
Ironically, as more facts came to light in Saudi Arabia, connections were made that established that its top leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally authorized the horrific acts leading to Khashoggi’s death.
Yet in the U.S., many Americans remain in the dark about Russiagate, wondering just how high up in our government the plot went. We still don’t know who authorized certain corrupt decisions during the 2016 election or in Special Counsel Mueller’s probe.
The inside perpetrators of these calculated actions found ways to remain hidden.
After congressional hearings about the start of Russiagate, where key government witnesses obfuscated facts, it was proven that individuals in various U.S. government agencies lacked in candor. Then special Counsel John Durham was tasked by the Department of Justice with "investigating the investigators."
This was a highly unusual move within government. Perhaps the results of Durham’s soon-to-be released probe will finally yield the needed transparency that government insiders have sought to conceal.
But, imagine if the U.S. government had released the truth about Special Counsel Mueller's Russia probe with the same forceful motivations it did with the Khashoggi case.
Now, imagine if a foreign government used its resources to do a full investigation into U.S. officials complicit in spying on its own citizens, even a presidential candidate, and declassified its findings for the world to see. The impact would have staggering consequences.
For all of the pontificating that the U.S. shoveled on the global community about transparency for Khashoggi, it is consciously burying the truth about its own complicity in the failed Russia-Mueller collusion investigation.
Contrasting our government’s willingness to tell the truth regarding the Khashoggi murder, but not Russigate, exposes the hypocrisy and deception of the U.S. government.
But we need it to tell the truth.
As a standard bearer for human rights, the U.S. is viewed by the global community as a leader in promoting and adhering to democratic principles. Transparency by the U.S. government, by any government, is necessary to ensure those principles are protected.
Without transparency, there cannot be trust. Without trust, democracy falls.
Rick Gates has worked on U.S. and international political campaigns over a span of 25 years. He enjoys learning and sharing insights about diverse perspectives of elections, policies and ideologies around the world, and their impact on democracy in the U.S. Most recently he served in multiple senior roles with Donald Trump rising to deputy campaign chairman. Following the successful 2016 election, Rick continued his service to the president as the deputy chairman to his Inaugural Committee, and after, as a co-founder of his Super PAC, America First Policies. Rick is a frequent political commentator and opinion contributor. He is the author of "Wicked Game: An Insider’s Story on How Trump Won, Mueller Failed and America Lost." Read Rick Gates' Reports — More Here.
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