Trump's new intel chief was a Trump critic in 2016

President Trump’s new appearing director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell, has for years been a vocal Trump loyalist, utilizing his Twitter account to boost the president’s insurance policies on every part from 5G and NATO to the Iran deal and the financial system.

However Grenell wasn’t all the time a Trump supporter: In 2016, before the New York real estate mogul turned the GOP presidential nominee, Grenell referred to as Trump “harmful” and spoke out repeatedly in favor of former Ohio governor John Kasich, in response to deleted tweets recovered by cybersecurity firm Nisos and obtained by POLITICO.

“He’s dangerous!” learn one deleted Grenell tweet from March 24, 2016, the day Trump tweeted that “NATO is obsolete and have to be changed to moreover give attention to terrorism as well as some of the things it's presently targeted on!”

The tweets underscore a key irony of the Trump period: A number of the president’s fiercest critics in the course of the 2016 race have since reworked into his most passionate defenders, together with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who warned that Trump can be an “authoritarian president”; GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, who denounced Trump as “a race-baiting, xenophobic, spiritual bigot” who would destroy the Republican Social gathering; and appearing chief of employees Mick Mulvany, who called Trump a “terrible human being” right earlier than the 2016 election.

Grenell appears to have undergone an analogous evolution.

“Trump is dangerous. Get up. He’s reckless,” he replied on another event to a consumer who had written “vote Trump.” He urged his followers to learn Trump’s interview with the Washington Submit editorial board, during which Trump stated, “I feel NATO as a concept is sweet, however it isn't as good because it was when it first advanced … I’m not even knocking it, I’m simply saying I don’t assume it’s truthful, we’re not treated truthful.”

“NATO needs reforming. However Trump is questioning its usefulness,” learn one other deleted Grenell tweet from March 24, 2016.

5 days later, in another since-deleted tweet, Grenell wrote, “When you assume Trump is aware of overseas coverage issues then completely yes, you're stupid.” Vox highlighted a few of Grenell’s criticisms in March 2017, when Trump was contemplating nominating Grenell to be U.S. ambassador to NATO. Nisos was capable of get well more than 1,000 deleted tweets belonging to Grenell’s account by way of a proprietary scraper that extracted and screen-captured archived tweets by way of the Wayback Machine.

Grenell did not respond to a request for comment, nor did he dispute the authenticity of the tweets, however a person close to him stated: “As a overseas coverage commentator, he opined on overseas coverage points and concepts. He strongly supported Donald Trump as the greatest GOP candidate general.”

Grenell’s appointment as appearing DNI comes as Trump, in a post-acquittal victory lap, has begun purging his administration of anti-Trump career staff and political appointees. However the fairly typical Republican view of U.S. overseas policy Grenell articulated in 2016 appears to be at odds with Trump’s full dismissal of international organizations, treaties and alliances.

“NATO only works when the US leads it,” reads another deleted Grenell tweet from March 24, 2016. “The UN, too.” Trump has berated the United Nations as “a waste of time and money,” and “just a membership for individuals to get together, speak and have an excellent time.”

However Grenell additionally appeared to favor Trump’s rivals for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, Kasich and Carly Fiorina. Even former Florida governor and GOP candidate Jeb Bush received some love: “@JebBush is true,” Grenell’s account tweeted on Oct. 28, 2015, during that marketing campaign cycle’s third GOP debate. “@DonaldTrump talks about overseas coverage prefer it’s a simple board recreation. #Unserious.”

During a GOP debate on Jan. 28, 2016, Grenell’s account heaped praise on Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO. “The GOP needs #CarlyFiorina,” reads one tweet from that night time “.@CarlyFiorina for the win. #Loveher,” reads one other.

By February, Grenell seems to have moved over to the Kasich camp. “John Kasich is presenting probably the most new concepts,” reads one tweet from February 13, 2016, the night time of another GOP debate.

In the course of the March 10, 2016 debate, Grenell’s account tweeted: “John Kasich is excellent and cozy on overseas policy.” Throughout a March 22, 2016 Kasich, appearance on the Fox Business show “Varney & Co,” Grenell’s account tweeted: “@JohnKasich is on with @Varneyco speaking the most intelligently about Brussels attacks. He's robust and yet considerate.”

On March 24, 2016, when a new Pennsylvania poll was released, Grenell’s account wrote: “Pennsylvania can save America by voting John Kasich,” adding in another tweet: “John Kasich wants to remain on this race until the top. Many individuals know [Ted] Cruz just can’t win in November.”

A former Kasich strategist, John Weaver, advised POLITICO that Grenell was never concerned with the campaign in any capability. Although “he did show logic for a bit,” Weaver joked.

Grenell has lengthy espoused hawkish views toward Russia. He was harshly important of what he seen as Obama's solicitousness toward Moscow: In 2014, as an example, he referred to as for a larger missile protection defend in japanese Europe following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and a surge in funding for the U.S. government-funded outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

“NYT says Putin defies ‘america,’” Grenell wrote in March 2014. “Why isn’t it Putin defies Obama?”

There is no indication that Grenell, who Trump nominated to be U.S. ambassador to Germany in September 2017, has dialed back his criticism of Russia's policies.

However he does appear to have atoned for his anti-Trump commentary. He began supporting Trump publicly after he turned the GOP nominee, writing in June 2016 that he would help the Republican candidate over Hillary Clinton and, in August, that the election “is a selection between 5,000 conservative appointees and 5,000 liberal appointees.”

He also started to mock studies that stated Russia had interfered in the election to spice up Trump’s candidacy, writing in December 2016: “[T]hose Russians should have demanded that Hillary not marketing campaign in Wisconsin and Michigan, too.” And he promoted the WikiLeaks disclosures, praising news organizations that reported extensively on the hacked DNC supplies and criticizing people who didn’t.

“The WikiLeaks reporting is superb,” he tweeted at conservative information retailers Every day Caller and Unbiased Journal Evaluation on October 12, 2016, days after WikiLeaks released emails Russia had stolen from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta. “Keep it up,” he wrote. On October 14, 2016, Grenell complained that the Twitter feed of MSNBC’s Katy Tur had “virtually no WikiLeaks content material,” and referred to as on NBC Information executives to “take action towards her advocacy.”

By that point, the Obama administration had launched an unprecedented joint statement from intelligence officers—minutes before the Podesta emails WikiLeaks dump—accusing the Russian government of interfering in the election via hacking.

But Grenell was undeterred. In January 2017, his account tweeted “this sums it up” above a meme of two canine saying: “We’re glad you’re residence! The Russians pooped within the hallway,” implying that Democrats have been using Russia as a scapegoat for their loss. Trump has repeatedly forged doubt on the intelligence group’s assessment that Russia interfered within the 2016 election to spice up his candidacy.

As appearing director of nationwide intelligence, Grenell will oversee the very intelligence businesses that drew the conclusions about Russia’s interference that Grenell downplayed. “Russia all the time tries to intrude in elections,” Grenell wrote on April three, 2017 in a now-deleted tweet. “Obama ought to have finished something concerning the reality they hacked the DNC. He was President.”

At ODNI, Grenell may also have declassification authority, and has aligned himself with Trump’s claims that the Obama administration was “spying” on his campaign. In a single deleted tweet from April 2017, Grenell wrote: “Obama group listened in on Trump group, then selectively leaked information. Most individuals call this spying.”

One of Grenell’s senior advisers at ODNI, Kash Patel, played a key position as a Hill staffer in helping Republicans, notably former House intel chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), attempt to discredit the Russia probe in the yr after Trump’s victory.

“@DevinNunes is strong,” Grenell wrote on March 24, 2017 in one other since-deleted tweet. Nunes had briefed reporters that day on his findings about potential surveillance of the Trump marketing campaign. “Measured, targeted, and critical,” Grenell added of Nunes.

Nunes stepped except for the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia probe two weeks later as he came underneath investigation by the House Ethics Committee over reviews he “might have made unauthorized disclosures of categorised info.” He was finally cleared of wrongdoing.

Daniel Lippman contributed reporting.

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