Trump administration escalates purge of senior US intelligence officials, Economist reports
A senior CIA officer who oversaw Russia analysis has been stripped of her security clearance, part of a sweeping removal of 37 serving and former officials accused of "betray[ing] their oath to the Constitution," the Economist reported on Aug. 21.
The officer, who served as the CIA’s top Russia and Eurasia analyst during the 2016 election and helped produce the report detailing Moscow’s interference on behalf of Donald Trump, was among the most senior career officials targeted. Shelby Pierson and Vinh Nguyen, who also worked on the 2016 assessment, were similarly purged. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, confirmed the revocations on Aug. 19.
The unprecedented action has rattled the intelligence community. "To lose a clearance is a 'career ender,'" former CIA officer Larry Pfeiffer told the Economist. He lost his own clearance in January. "Even the cleaning crews have clearance." Current and former officials told the outlet that the move would deter analysts from speaking "truth to power" in future.
The purge comes amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to punish officials and rewrite assessments critical of the president. In April, Gabbard aides reportedly pressed analysts to alter an assessment of the Tren de Aragua criminal group to align with Trump’s policy. In June, Trump publicly attacked Defense Intelligence Agency reports contradicting his claims about Iranian nuclear facilities.
Many of those stripped of access had only tangential links to Russia. Nguyen, once chief data scientist at the National Security Agency (NSA), was praised as "the most thoughtful person on AI in the federal government" only weeks before his dismissal. General Tim Haugh, the NSA’s director, and April Doss, its top lawyer, were also fired this year. Others appeared on a list compiled by far-right activist Laura Loomer, published in July.
This campaign has extended to legal action. John Ratcliffe, now CIA director, referred former agency chief John Brennan to the FBI for allegedly lying to Congress. The Justice Department has also opened a probe into former FBI director James Comey. Both Brennan and Comey played central roles in the 2016 Russia investigation.
On Aug. 20, Gabbard announced she would halve the staff of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, created after 9/11 to coordinate America’s 18 intelligence agencies, in an effort to "root out deep state actors."
