Cait Conley fears Trump’s cartel focus could create a national security blind spot
Democratic congressional candidate for New York’s 17th district Cait Conley fears the Trump administration’s focus on cartels and fentanyl is coming at the expense of U.S. preparedness for threats from China and Russia — a trade-off she likened to Washington’s overinvestment in counterterrorism after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“I think we learned this a decade ago, coming out of the counterterrorism fight,” Conley said in an interview discussing how she’d bring her national security policy and military experience to a congressional seat.
A West Point graduate and Army officer who later worked at the National Security Council and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Conley is challenging Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., in the coming general election.
Conley said the federal government spent years rebuilding its ability to compete with major state adversaries after concentrating much of its national security resources on terrorist organizations. She contends that the Trump administration’s...
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