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What Is the “Deep State”?

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Posted: March 22nd, 2017

The term “Deep State” has achieved new popularity in recent weeks, but not in reference to opaque military elites in faraway countries. Today, the term is aimed at the U.S. government itself. In particular, the deep state has become a catchall term, which credits a shadow network of spies and bureaucrats with conspiring to undermine the new administration.

Even Senior White House officials appear to believe in the concept. Answering a question about the deep state in a briefing this month – an answer he repeated yesterday – White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer sidestepped the term, but said there was “no question” there might be “people that burrowed into government during eight years of the last administration” who are seeking to push former President Barack Obama’s agenda.

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