Webs Will Attract Spiders

By Carl Nelson: A book review

The Insider Threat by Adam Lovinger

This book is a riveting tale of a modern day real-life victim of a Deep State cabal.

Far from being a whistleblower, the author, Adam Lovinger, initiated the cascade of events noted in his book by simply following the rules. It was a requirement. Or, as he stated in a recalled luncheon conversation with his superior, James H. Baker (new head of the ONA):

“As the only lawyer in ONA [Office of Net Assessment], I feel it’s my duty to tell you that LTSG [Long Term Strategy Group] is employing [name of alleged Chinese spy] on the Task Force,” I said.

At the time, it was widely known in the office that the individual in question was a suspected Chinese spy and the subject of multiple FBI investigations.

“So what is your concern?” Baker asked.

“Sir, we should at least tell the Japanese that the FBI keeps investigating him on that suspicion. If we don’t, that’s a betrayal of the Japanese.”

Unwittingly, with this interaction he “had crossed some invisible Rubicon.” as our author surmised later and the remainder of the events followed.

At this lunch conversation, our author unwittingly initiated the first action of the Deep State Playbook; that is, to determine whether the individual is recruitable. After our author had unsuspectingly made it plain that he wasn’t, Baker initiated the second action in the Deep State playbook, which was to target the author as an “insider threat”. As a third action, an investigation was launched against him that ran concomitant with the fourth action, which was suspension of his security clearance.

The writing of this book had to be difficult work to communicate adequately what was an exasperating Escher-like experience, in which correct bureaucratic action places one back again at square one of their Deep State Playbook. All of which takes place in a dark Alice in Wonderland scenario where governmental agencies’ missions have been turned on their heads to produce outcomes opposite to those intended.

Incidents and acronyms abound, names are named, but specific violations of the accused are often never given him, or if named, proved to be incorrect or spurious without ending the investigation of him, or his trial. That is, correct misbehavior moves his opponents forward while his correct behavior is punished. Lovinger’s story, The Insider Threat, with all of the swirling bureaucratic personages, acronyms, deceptions and obfuscations, gives the struggling reader a good taste of the spiraling Kafkaesque nature of the Deep State when challenged into appearance.

This all achieves a dark narrative coherence, in Lovinger’s hands. The author names the power figures that are pulling the marionette strings, and over what political collision of visions the battle is being waged. It’s a Tale of Two Administrations, the legitimate and its insurgent doppelganger.

Someone has noted that, “The most dangerous thing in the world is a crowd.” But it can be a small thing in comparison with an organization. It is my own belief that webs will attract spiders, as power will attract seekers. Bureaucratic red tape is fertile soil for corruption to grow and the selling of favors to tilt a whole organization towards paid access and insider trading. Efforts to domesticate them by adding additional safeguards and strict protocols often merely provide more nets for scoundrels to suck the life from more naïve flies. Large complex organizations are inherently dangerous to truth and individual rights.

The upside down nature of the Dark State, is noted in their turning of a legislative function, such as that of the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) on its head.

“Congress enacted that law to ensure more transparency and accountability in the federal government. But in practice, FOIA has served instead as a powerful weapon of concealment. …As a FOIA lawyer at State, Finnegan-Myers received an email on December 6, 2012. A government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), had filed a FOIA request for information on Clinton’s use of her private email to conduct official government business.. Finnegan-Myers sat on that request for information on Clinton’s use of her private email to conduct official government business. Finnegan-Myers sat on that request for almost half a year, then, on May 10, 2013, her office informed CREW that there were “no responsive records” to that FOIA request. That was false.”

…

“Usually “negligence born out of incompetence,” gets a person fired. Yet doggedly subverting FOIA to conceal the Clinton email scandal, a criminal act, earned Finnegan-Myers a promotion to lead the WHS Executive Services directorate and serve on the prestigious congressionally mandated FOIA Advisory Committee.” (Pages 168-169)

Why in the world would the dark cabal valorize these perpetrators?

To understand, one must first understand the actions of a governmental organization, the first and foremost of which is to protect itself. So, for example, as noted in a column by Sundance, in “The Last Refuge” (a substack), if one brings a problem to the FBI, which could reflect poorly on the Bureau’s performance – rather than the lapse being investigated and the perpetrator dealt with, there is a far greater chance that the complainant will be investigated and discredited. This is why the dark cabal gives its functionaries medals. Once an employee is given such distinction by a Bureau, they have gained the protection of the Bureau, as any disciplinary action against them would reflect poorly upon the Bureau.

“Do over” investigations are another often used tactic. “In my case, Jennifer C. Walsh had investigated me and ended up incriminating my accusers. So Westgate, Baker, and Russell had Bruggeman conduct a “do over” investigation to get the results they wanted.” (Pg. 209)

How does the Deep State enforce discipline?

It is a stick and then carrot approach. Very much like mobsters who must acquire their “bones” (by killing someone), “Deep State operatives never promote anyone to hold a consequential position in the Senior Executive Service or Senior Intelligence Service without first generating a blackmail file on them.” (Page 27)

Then, the perpetrators of misdeeds (ordered by higher figures in the cabal), besides given promotions for their misdeeds, are often also given medals for their exemplary service.

What’s an honest person to do?

As noted in Lovinger’s book (Pg. 201):

“When Adolph Ochs bought the New York Times in 1896, he had promised to “give the news impartially, without fear or favor.” But those days are long gone. When I confronted the Times reporter with the facts, he refused to correct his error, as Bill Gertz had done before him. As my experience with both these reporters reinforces, they and their editors and publishers alike prioritize doing the bidding of Deep State operatives, in exchange for getting inside scoops, over printing the truth.”

So much for getting outside help.

In the end, even our author’s long suffering, pro bono attorney, Sean Bigley, tossed up his hands:

“After reading Garrison’s [a deep state player] handiwork, Sean Bigley, who had by then represented me pro bono for more than three years, apologized to me. He did so not because of anything he had done wrong. Just the opposite. Bigley had vigorously defended me from the beginning to end with skill and determination. He apologized because, to do his job, a lawyer needs to work in a baseline environment where the facts and law matter. But because these corrupt officials were free to change the facts and ignore the law with impunity, the most fundamental tools of his profession had been rendered irrelevant. Frustrated by the impossibility of getting justice for his clients against a rogue Deep State, Bigley closed his federal whistleblower law office soon thereafter.”

Inevitably, the public doesn’t know a lot of what is going on.

A lot of the news is delivered to us in coded form, rather like a letter whose unremarkable contents are understood – when translated in the mind of the initiated – to transmit quite important insight. For example, “unnamed source” might mean a leaker of true information, or completely fabricated material, but both are intended to create some outcome, and neither are truly news in the dispassionate sense.

Also, the length of time it requires a candidate to respond to a certain controversial event can be an indication of whether the candidate is their own person (responds immediately), or someone who is being ‘run’ or ‘managed’ (there is a time lag). Trump’s spontaneous ‘tweets’ would mark one end of the spectrum.

There is so much of this, and The Insider Threat by Adam Lovinger could be used as a manual with which to understand some of those low frequency bursts emanating from that black hole which is the Deep State.

There is much to be mined from this engrossing book. And one will be left with a pretty good, general command, of the political drives, major players and Deep State machinations of the past 16 or more years. Plus it is a good read.