This Brosnan Risk Consultants (BRC) Strategic Intelligence Briefing covers the period from November 28th, 2020 to December 14th, 2020 and discusses issues related to recent political, economic, socio-cultural, and/or environmental events that may have an effect on security throughout the United States or other global markets.
The Strategic Intelligence Briefing is a bi-weekly, high level version of the type of intelligence reporting services that Brosnan offers as part of our overall security services. Besides being one of the best security guard companies in the United States, Brosnan's Intelligence as a Service (IaaS) is another fundamental service included in our comprehensive list of security products and services that sets us apart from other security services companies.
Pardons for Sale?
There is a great deal of discussion in and around Washington that Rudy Giuliani is playing the key role in facilitating pardons via the President. The cost for this service is $500,000. The way this is addressed provides cover for action due to the manner in which Giuliani has positioned himself vis-à-vis the President and the White House. While Giuliani is one of the legal advisors to the President, he is not receiving a salary or any type of remuneration from the government. As such, he can earn an income by taking fees on the outside. That said, key to this is the fact that Giuliani does not make the result (issuance of a pardon) contingent upon the payment of funds. Should he guarantee the results, this would make the transaction much more suspect. At this point it is unclear if there is a contingent aspect to the deal.
Will He, or Won’t He?
According to senior Republican officials and those in the Administration, it is expected that the President will continue to fight and contest any/all aspects of the election until January 20. This is the date he and his closest advisors view as their deadline. That said, the President is also likely to provide his family members and himself with preemptive pardons either on January 19, or very close to the January 20 inauguration.
Frustrations Among Republicans
More and more mainstream Republicans are quietly voicing their concerns at the direction of the party and the iron grip Trump and his family have on it. There is significant concern that if the President does declare his candidacy for the 2024 race and/or starts to build an active political action committee to support his status as a “king maker” within the party, that they will be hard pressed in the near term to dislodge him. That said, these same Republicans are very cautious and concerned to step out, with the exception of Senators such as Sasse and Romney. These Republicans have learned over the past four years that you can never assume that the President will not survive a scandal, as he continues to prove he can.
Future U.S Foreign Policy Direction (China)
State Department officials are eager and excited at the prospect of Anthony Blinken becoming the next Secretary of State. However, they are not expecting a great deal of change in course, apart from some main issues of interest to President-elect Biden, i.e., the environment.
With regard to China, there is a great deal of concern regarding Chinese activities over the past decades, as evidenced by press reports of the Chinese intelligence operation involving Christine Fang, the operative who was actively courting local, state and federal level leaders in the U.S. from 2011-2015. These included not only U.S. Congressman Swalwell, but also two mayors. Swalwell was a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in 2015, which provides oversight on the activities and programs of the U.S. Intelligence Community; a highly sensitive position with access to nearly all of America’s classified efforts.
Her goal was to gather information and attain influence on those rising in the ranks of the U.S. political leadership. These revelations, which corroborate earlier reporting from the Brosnan Intelligence Group this summer, will likely continue to grow over the near and midterm, as more examples of Chinese influence operations within the political realm, as well as China leveraging its expatriate community in the U.S. for its bidding, are revealed.
Such realities will bring to light examples of Chinese Chambers of Commerce attempting to influence U.S, policies and trade; and U.S. universities, think tanks and even National Labs working on sensitive research, via the students and businesspeople that China has been sending to the U.S. for decades. The fallout from this will be significant and place Biden in a difficult position to better relations with China.
Future U.S Foreign Policy Direction (Middle East/Iran)
There is a great deal of uncertainty in the Gulf region regarding the future course of U.S. foreign policy. But it is not limited to foreign states, but also internally. With regard to Iran, the allegations that the recent killing of the founder of Iran’s nuclear program Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was carried out by Israel has placed both Iran and the Biden Administration in a difficult position. Israel took advantage of the political situation to undertake this operation. As such, for Iran, it is not able to take any overt action in response to this killing as it would undermine the ability of Biden to make any overtures to the Islamic Republic that could lead to a new nuclear deal. In addition, this is particularly vexing for Iran as they have their Presidential election coming up in June 2021.
Learn More About Strategic Response Services
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