NEW: 12 former senior intel official issue statement on "ill-considered & unprecedented remarks & actions by the White House" re former @CIA Dir. @JohnBrennan

"Insinuations and allegations of wrongdoing on the part of Brennan while in office are baseless," they say "The president’s action regarding John Brennan and the threats of similar action against other former officials has nothing to do with who should and should not hold security clearances – and everything to do with an attempt to stifle free speech" per statement

DEVELOPING: #ISIS force strength now may be close to its peak in 2015.
As of June 2018, estimated 28,600 to 31,600 #Daesh fighters in #Iraq #Syria per IG report

US intelligence estimates had 33,000 #ISIS fighters at group's peak in 2015

h/t @nickglavin The same report says there are about 200 #ISIS fighters in #Philippines

media.defense.gov/2018/Aug/07/20…

NEW: “I have all the authority I need” per @DeptofDefense Sec Jim Mattis when asked about countering possible #Russia info ops/#cyber attacks red #Election2018 "We all saw in 2016 what happened when the #Russia|ns & possibly others, but the Russians for certain tried to do both influence operations & actually get in & actually corrupt some of the election process" per SecDef Mattis before meeting w/#British Defense Sec @GavinWilliamson

Highlights fro #Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing on foreign interference via social media platforms:

"Election interference from abroad represents an intolerable assault on the democratic foundation this republic was built on" per @SenatorBurr "It's also important that the American people know that these activities neither began nor ended with the 2016 elections" per @SenatorBurr "Foreign actors continue an aggressive and pervasive influence campaign against the #UnitedStatesofAmerica"

BREAKING: Senate Intelligence Committee issues initial findings on its assessment of the 2017 US intelligence community assessment that #Russia meddled in #Election2016 "supported by the evidence"

burr.senate.gov/download/final… MORE: Senate Intel Committee "concurs with intelligence and open-source assessments that this influence campaign was approved by President #Putin" per just issued report
re #Russia meddling with #Election2016 with eventual goal to boost @realDonaldTrump

US needs low yield nuclear weapons, @US_Stratcom Cmdr @usairforce Gen John Hyten tells #SASC hearing - "That capability's a deterrence weapon to respond the threat that #Russia in particular is portraying" "The #Russia|n doctrine will be to use a low-yield nuclear weapon on the battlefield in case of a conventional over-match with an adversary" per Gen Hyten, citing Vladimir Putin's own words

#Europe "an increasingly complex & competitive security environment," SACEUR/@US_EUCOM Commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti tells #SASC in opening statement "Our adaptation to the environment has made significant progress...particularly under the European Deterrence Initiative" per Gen Scaparrotti, calling it "the largest reinforcement of Euro-Atlantic Defense in a generation"