Caught in a rip-tide and being dragged further out to sea, Mr. Brennan has hit the rocks and lost his ship. Floating with him, a hapless group of CIA and NSC Cold Warriors, all in way over their heads.

Having torn the sheets and smashed the hull, they bob in the waves. Lost is the wars they started far off over the horizon. Ukraine, Syria, who is to blame? Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, too.

In February 2017, “nine current and former officials” confirmed classified information leaked to the Washington Post and the New York Times. That information was intelligence obtained from NSA intercepts of several telephone calls between incoming National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Russian Ambassador Kislyak.