In extremely revealing testimony, director of the CIA John Brennan told the Senate intelligence committee Thursday that CIA has no evidence of a connection between Omar Mateen and the Islamic State

Despite alleged claims made by the Orlando shooter during the massacre, as well as a chorus of media pundits and politicos that followed; including President Obama, and presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Central Intelligence Agency head Brennan said the intelligence agency has not been “able to uncover any link” between Orlando killer Omar Mateen and the Islamic State (ISIS).

According to a report in The Guardian:

Reinforcing four days of internal government assessments across multiple agencies and a Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry, the CIA director, John Brennan, contrasted “lone wolf” killers in Orlando and San Bernardino last December with recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, which he told the Senate intelligence committee were “directed” by Isis leadership in Syria and Iraq.

In addition to the CIA assessment given to the Senate intelligence committee, the FBI has also come to the conclusion that the killer was not in contact with ISIS before his attack at the Pulse nightclub.

In light of the mounting evidence that Mateen was, in fact, gay or bi-sexual, it seems increasingly likely, given the assessments by the FBI and CIA that this was not a case of directed “Islamic terrorism,” that the killer had an internal identity struggle that manifested in mental heath issues and subsequently violence.

Mateen’s ex- wife, Sitora Yusufiy, says that just months into their marriage, Mateen started emotionally and physically abusing her – exploding in anger and often beating her. She claims her family “literally rescued” her from the abusive relationship and his mental instability. She also believes Mateen was gay and has stated that she witnessed Mateen’s father call him gay on several occasions, but that “the FBI asked her not to tell this to the American media.”

In addition, a former classmate of Mateen said that the killer, who is reported to have been a regular at the gay nightclub, had previously asked him out romantically. Kevin West, a regular at Pulse, told the Los Angeles Times he had exchanged messages with Mateen on a gay dating app.

The FBI and law enforcement in the United States have steadfastly stuck to a narrative of “Islamist terrorism,” with their alleged demand from Mateen’s ex-wife to remain silent about his homosexual proclivities suggesting they want to downplay the glaring personal and self-hating nature of the attack in favor of the Islamic terrorism-related one that helps increase governmental power and control.

Another oddity for someone purported by the media narrative to be an “Islamist terrorist” was Mateen’s call to police in which he allegedly pledged loyalty to the Islamic State during the attack, as he had previously espoused support for both Hezbollah and al-Qaeda. Each of these groups have drastically different interpretations of Islam and are currently fighting against one another on opposite sides of the Syrian civil war, with both Hezbollah and al-Qaeda actively engaged in fighting against ISIS as well.

For someone purported to be an Islamic terrorist, it seems that Mateen had an extremely elementary understanding of militant Islamist extremist groups, and their differing and conflicting ideologies.

It’s time to ask ourselves: why are the politicians lying about ISIS being behind this attack, when the head of the CIA is saying they are clearly not?

Jay Syrmopoulos is a political analyst, free thinker, researcher, and ardent opponent of authoritarianism. He is currently a graduate student at University of Denver pursuing a masters in Global Affairs. Jay’s work has been published on Ben Swann’s Truth in Media, Truth-Out, Raw Story, MintPress News, as well as many other sites. You can follow him on Twitter @sirmetropolis, on Facebook at Sir Metropolis and now on tsu.