The current and previous intelligence sources said that the Director of National Intelligence, Toulcy Gabbard, carried out by the leaders of the CIA last week when it revealed the name of the Secret CIA officer in a list of people who stripped her of security permits.
The sources said that this step has caused concern about the agency’s workforce, which is the latest example of large tensions and crossed signals between Gabbard and the director of the CIA. The two previously clashed with their decisions, including earlier this month when Gabbard classified a document that was lightly revised related to the interference in the Russian elections.
Two former government officials said that their reading of the situation is that Gabbard is under pressure to restore President Donald Trump’s confidence. Gabbard fell from Saleh Trump and his aides earlier this year after publishing a video and delivered a testimony about Iranian nuclear capabilities.
But it seems that the tensions between Gabbard and Trump have calmed down. When Gabbard announced the removal of security last week, she said that some current and former officials had been involved in “politicization or intelligence weapons” and that she was acting on the president’s orders.
On Tuesday, while chairing a cabinet meeting in front of television cameras, Trump praised Jabard. “I found some interesting things, Tolsi,” Trump said. “I became a bigger and bigger star every day.”
One of the former government officials said Gabbard seemed to be trying to show the president who was exposed to Democrats and political enemies, including some within the CIA. The former official said that security removal reflects a “battle between Gabbard and Ratcliffe.”
The director of the National Intelligence position was created after the September 11 attacks in an attempt to ensure close coordination between the spying agencies in the country.
There were grass wars and personal clashes in the past between some DNIs and CIA managers. During Barack Obama’s presidency, Dennis Blair was often on Logpers heads with the head of the CIA, Lyon Panetta, and he finally resigned after 16 months of work.
But in this case, it appears that the current director of national intelligence seeks to support the president, as previous officials said, by redoubling the accusations against previous democratic administrations and punishing members of the “deep state” of Trump’s anti -Bureaucrats.
Aside from the highlight of the gap between Gabbard and Ratcliffe, the episode also shows an expanded and unpredictable disinfection effect for professional government officials who are adequately loyal.
Absolute
The CIA officer, which Gabbard identified and stripped of her security statement, was a veteran analyst. NBC News does not call the employee to protect it. A former colleague said she rejects interviews.
A few days ago, I worked extensively to help prepare the White House team for a summit in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the former intelligence agency colleagues. It was to take over a new mission for the CIA in Europe, according to three sources with the knowledge of the matter.
After the summit, the Central Intelligence Agency informed the analyst that she lost her security statement and ended her career effectively. “Most of the preparatory preparatory for Putin’s summit, and to the present day, has no idea about the reason for removing her permit,” said a former colleague, who spoke on the condition that her identity is not disclosed, citing the fear of revenge on the Trump administration.
A US official and a source of knowledge of the issue said: Gabbard and its office failed to correctly coordinate this step with the CIA before canceling the security permits of current and former officials. The official added that Gabbard and the office of the Director of National Intelligence were not aware of the mission of the CIA employee.
“ODNI has not been useful to the agency,” the official told NBC News.
Olivia Coleman, an ODNI spokeswoman, defended Gabbard’s decision, saying in an email, designed to ensure “individuals who violated the confidence in which he put it by arming, politicized, manipulating them, or adhering to classified intelligence.”
in Social media yet“Nobody was” armed. “We have coordinated with all agencies before sending the message.” Coleman said that a memorandum of Gabbard Rissing Security is listed and not affiliations of the agency, meaning Dnigabbard No “secret” officer came out. “
When asked about the relations between the President of Sobti, the CIA spokeswoman, Liz Lyon, said: “Director Ratcliffe and the National Security Team of the entire president are committed to continuing to politicize intelligence and focus on executing the priorities of President Trump’s national security and maintaining the safety of the American people.”
Washington Post and Wall Street Magazine I mentioned for the first time the accident.
The CIA analyst that was previously launched as a national intelligence officer specialized in Russia and Eurasia and ordered to help organize the evaluation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections. Since Trump returned to the White House in January, the administration has taken measures against officials who participated in the investigation in Russia, and those who tried a riot in January 6 and those who followed Criminal cases against Trump.
Larry Verver, a former intelligence official, said that it would be reckless not to consult with the employee’s spy agency before canceling his security statement and revealing his identity. He said this may endanger an officer and put relations with a foreign government.
“See, it makes sense to consult with the agency, which will be more affected by a decision to withdraw the statement of one of its employees,” for this general way. “
Constant friction
The episode confirmed the constant friction between Gabbard and Ratcliffe. The rift was clear throughout Washington, known to legislators, intelligence community and Pentagon officials.
In July, Gabbard classified the 2020 report from the Republican Intelligence Committee, which was led by Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections. This has done this on the objections of some CIA officials, who have argued that the details should remain secret to protect sensitive sources and methods of sensitive spy, according to NBC News previously.
Gabbard also raised the eyebrows at the CIA when it revealed plans to move the preparation of the President’s daily intelligence conference from the headquarters of the CIA in Langley, Virginia, to the office of the National Intelligence Director a few miles away in MacLean.
Presidents regularly receive secret intelligence, a digital document presented by senior officials who can form the leader of the leader in decision -making. While Gabbard is supervising and consistent with the daily presidential summary, senior employees of analysts and other CIA employees collect a briefing, and create detailed text, drawings and videos based on the latest intelligence information.
Dozens of intelligence officials launched
Former intelligence officials say the CIA analyst is one of dozens of job employees in the country’s spying agencies who have been surprised or forced in recent months because of the alleged lack of hardness. They were expelled without being informed of the evidence of the decision or have an opportunity to defend themselves.
Legal experts say that Trump has authority over security permits unlike any former president, using him as a tool to punish the former officials who criticized him and silenced the opposition in the government.
The administration defended its actions, Saying Those who were stripped of their security statement have established intelligence for partisan purposes, failed to protect the classified materials, and have failed to adhere to professional intelligence “Tradecraft Analytical” or participating in the unlimited “harmful” behavior. In announcing this step, Gabbard did not make evidence of these claims.
The 37th people targeted by Gabbard last week were former officials who worked in national security roles during Obama and Biden departments. Of the mentioned 37, 25 letters signed in 2019, when they were private citizens, with the support of the efforts made by Democratic lawmakers to launch isolation if Trump offended his strength when he asked the Ukraine government to search for automatic information about his political rival, Joe Biden.
The right -wing activist and Trump ally Laura Lumer, who depicts herself as “unbearable” government officials and civil service staff, made a speech in 2019 in the recent social networking publication.
Former officials said that the revival of security permits for former intelligence officials may damage their reputation and limit their long -term ability to find jobs. Security permits are a record condition for many higher positions in defense and technology companies with federal contracts.
Regardless of the CIA analyst, there were at least two current intelligence officers in the Gabbard list. One of them was Ngwin at the National Security Agency, whose colleagues say was recognized as the best mind for the intelligence community in advanced technology such as artificial intelligence. Former colleagues said that the government recruited Najin at the age of 17 and was the youngest of the National Security Agency ever to a large position.
The former intelligence officers described it as a genius between generations that cannot be replaced. “The United States government is the great loser here,” said a former intelligence official, referring to the prolongation of Ngawin.
In 2016, when Nguin was a national intelligence officer overseeing cybersecurity, it was Request to help direct intelligence evaluation Russia is interfering in the 2016 elections. The evaluation conducted by American spy agencies concluded that Russia launched a war of information to try to undermine the nomination of Hillary Clinton and Trump’s assistance.
But Trump and Gabbard rejected the evaluation as a mistake and part of a conspiracy claiming that Obama and his aides have been coordinated. An investigation into the partisan Senate, which is supervised at the time. Marco Rubio later supported the results of the intelligence evaluation that Putin sought to help Trump win. The Russian leader also He said himself later He wanted to see Trump prevail.
Among the officials who lost their security permits was the former professional intelligence officers who broke out daily to Trump during his first term. Many others on the list said that they no longer have active security permits and learned that they were on the social media list.
“No rhyme or reason”
Yael Eisestat, a former CIA officer, wrote on social media that she was among those in the Gabbard list, although her last name had been dictated. Eisenstat said it had left the government more than a decade ago and did not need any security permit to work.
But she expressed her anger at Gabbard’s work. There Social media yet“The idea that the government can target the permits of former and current officers for political purposes without the due legal measures that clarify another direct attack on democratic standards,” she said.
Mark Zaid, a lawyer who represents Eisenstat and several other people on the list, said that canceling security permits “literally has no rhyme or reason” and carries the echoes of the McCarthy era. This step was implemented without the due legal procedures, and the Gabbard’s announcement was employed “defaming generalized allegations”, according to Ziyad, whose security statement was removed in a previous procedure.
Zaid said: “This act was not less than illegal contracts and ignoring the firm precedents. Given the past six months, it is clear that this administration has chosen to transfer the security clearance process, which would make the late Senator Joseph McCarthy proud.”