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Government
Trump to revamp intelligence agencies
2017-01-05
[The Hill] President-elect Donald Trump is crafting plans to restructure at least two of the nation’s top intelligence agencies, according to a new report.

Trump is eyeing overhauls of the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

"The view from the Trump team is the intelligence world [is] becoming completely politicized," an individual close to Trump’s transition operation said. "They all need to be slimmed down. The focus will be on restructuring agencies and how they interact."

Trump is targeting the CIA and the ODNI as he publicly wars with the U.S. intelligence community over its conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

The president-elect has vehemently denied that Russian hacking of Democratic organizations before Election Day aided his White House bid.

Trump wants to shrink the ODNI, as he believes the agency established in 2004 as a response to the 9/11 terror attacks has become bloated and politicized.

The CIA declined Wednesday to comment on Trump’s plans, which reportedly include cutting staffing at its Virginia headquarters and assigning more people to field posts.

The Journal added that advisers helping Trump draft the proposed alterations include retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Ky.).
Posted by:Besoeker

#13  The CIA has been the bad guy in nearly every spy movie (upside of James Bond movies) for most of my lifetime. Pretty sad really when those movies are often made by Americans for American consumption.

Clearly there is a lack of trust in the CIA that audiences didn't call bullcrap long ago.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2017-01-05 22:38  

#12  Long overdue if true.
Posted by: Injun Bucket8891   2017-01-05 17:25  

#11  Update from Ynet, taken from the Reuters feed:

Reports that Trump eyeing revamp of spy agencies are false

Donald Trump's spokesman on Thursday rejected media reports that said the Republican president-elect was planning to restructure the nation's intelligence agencies, calling the reports "100 percent false."

"There is no truth to this idea of restructuring the intelligence community infrastructure," Trump spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters in a conference call. "All transition activities are for information gathering purposes and all discussions are tentative.

Shaping expectations ahead of events, I think. The message looks like, "Do your jobs well and don't play games, or things will change unpleasantly for you."
Posted by: trailing wife   2017-01-05 16:08  

#10  There's a certain amount of "governmentese double-speak" that makes most of the government reports unintelligible. Trump should reorganize these intelligence agencies, otherwise he will have them nipping at his heels and biting his backside.
Posted by: JohnQC   2017-01-05 16:05  

#9  Going to disrupt 'the plan'.

I got as far as the President Obama quote on page 4/iii, and I had to stop. What an interesting experience that must have been thus far.
Posted by: trailing wife   2017-01-05 15:21  

#8  Thanks for playing Jim! And don't forget we've got some lovely parting gifts for you back stage.
Posted by: DepotGuy    2017-01-05 12:56  

#7  Going to disrupt 'the plan'.
Posted by: Skidmark   2017-01-05 12:53  

#6  Restore the OSS?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2017-01-05 12:02  

#5  Oh, why I stopped in, this talk about encouraging the intelligence agencies to give false witness - so what happens if a move is made based on intelligence sources ends up bad? Talk about tying your shoes together before kicking yourself in the ass.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2017-01-05 12:00  

#4  Pompeo (R-KS).

EP1401, I think that would be an extraordinarily bad idea.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2017-01-05 11:58  

#3  The president-elect has vehemently denied that Russian hacking of Democratic organizations before Election Day aided his White House bid.

However, the involuntary transparency of the opposition didn't hurt.

Wonder what interesting tidbits the NSA has stocked away. Hmmmmmm......
Posted by: Procopius2k   2017-01-05 07:41  

#2  Between this and asking for an audit of the Federal Reserve, Trump is sure to be assassinated in his first year in office. Private security or not.

Pence is at least a politician who can be dealt with.
Posted by: Elmavish Panda1401   2017-01-05 07:31  

#1  Trump wants to shrink the ODNI, as he believes the agency established in 2004 as a response to the 9/11 terror attacks has become bloated and politicized.

ODNI is a powerless entity, a sham, a Klingon insulator. Unless you hold the power of the purse, you control nothing. Flynn knows this and I am certain is seeking to abolish it.
Posted by: Besoeker   2017-01-05 07:10  

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