This kind of analysis reminds me of the Kremlin watchers of the old USSR. A bit more informative than tea leaves, astrology, and owl guts, but not as useful as actual knowledge.

In the case of intelligence information, the DCIA is very unlikely to say anything unequivocal on the public record that has clandestine roots. A smart DCIA would give equivocal answers whenever possible, or obscure answers or vague answers, etc. Like the chairman of the fed reserve does. We all want to know exactly what's going but its better for us all if we don't know everything.

That being the case, we Kremlin watch. The downside of having a gov that is not always and everywhere forthright is that conspiracy theories propagate faster than truth. Since we don't know the truth with certainty, we cannot differentiate truth for conspiracy theory. So we're left with intestinal intuition.

Your gut tells you "A" my gut tells me "B" and we Kremlin watch and jump on "facts" that support our gut feelings.

B