Grenell to Newsmax TV: 'Outside Viewpoint' Essential to Government

The value of the "outside viewpoint" is key to governing, but "insiders" are controlling what Americans see, former ambassador and acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell told Newsmax TV Saturday, after giving a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) where he called for term limits for Congress and broadly hinted at challenging California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

"I think that as outsiders, whether we go into Washington, D C., Brussels the capital of Europe, or Sacramento, the value of the outside viewpoint is really key," Grenell told Newsmax TV's John Bachman. "I think that what we have right now is a political system that all of the insiders are controlling the information, controlling what we hear what we see, and I think we've got to somehow break that system. We need better representation."

Grenell drew applause in his early morning CPAC speech when he said there is "real value in seriously considering term limits" for the United States' elected officials because many in Congress have become more ingrained in Washington than in the fabric of their own hometowns."

He also noted that there is always the option to recall politicians, such as the effort underway to recall Newsom, adding that in his "3 decades in American politics, I have never seen a better case for recall than there is in California.

"California used to be Reagan country, the shining example of business innovation and middle-class success," he said. "But now when you think of California you think of out-of-control wildfires, of rolling blackouts, of schools still closed."

But, he concluded, if term limits can't be enforced or a recall can't happen, then "you can run against them yourself."

Grenell has been preparing for a race in California, reports Politico. Trump lost the deep blue state by more than 29 percentage points in 2020, but a GOP strategist who has discussed Grenell's plans with him said he plans to announce a race after the recall effort for Newsom reaches the signature threshold needed to put the effort on the ballot.

Politico also reported Saturday that Grenell is slated to have dinner with former President Donald Trump Saturday evening to discuss his potential run for California governor.

"Should he run, Grenell would likely be supported by a substantial fundraising operation," Politico reported. "He was a major draw at Trump fundraisers during the 2020 campaign, and many of the former president’s biggest contributors have called on him to enter the contest. But while Grenell’s relationship with Trump is likely to help him with Republican voters, it could be a complicating factor. The former president got just 34 percent of the vote in California in 2020, and Democrats have signaled they’re eager focus a recall campaign on Trump instead of questions about how Newsom has handled the coronavirus pandemic."

Grenell is expected to meet Southern California-based high-dollar donors next week. Politico quotes a source close to him saying that he as he has begun to assemble "an experienced fundraising team."

Grenell, at CPAC, drew on his experiences as an envoy to Kosovo and Serbia and as an ambassador to Germany to make his case for listening to outside voices.

Washington experts, he said, "think in black and white," but the lesson here is the outsiders always have something to say, always something to contribute."

Meanwhile, on Newsmax TV, Grenell also discussed the Biden administration's release of information about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, calling it a "gratuitous repackaging of intelligence."

"When I was acting DNA, I had several meetings with career intelligence officials to say what is it about the Khashoggi report that the public hasn't seen?" Grenell told Bachman. "Is there anything that we can do to shed more light? I'm all about transparency. And I was told by the career officials. Nothing else can be done...what we see now is the new DNI clearly has overridden the career intelligence officials. Where's the outrage from Washington about manipulating intelligence?"