The purpose of U.S. intelligence is to support our national security in defending our nation. No president or military commander can effectively fulfill their responsibility to the country without good intelligence. Intelligence provides truth to power, defines the threats, analyzes the information provided, and makes clear the consequences of action or inaction. That is the way intelligence is supposed to work.
Every day the president is presented a summary of the critical threats in the world. Intelligence briefers provide a summary of that intelligence, known as the President’s Daily Brief, to the president and his national security team and respond to questions regarding the credibility of the information. That, too, is the way intelligence should be presented to our nation’s leaders.
When the president ignores how intelligence is provided and collected, and when he appoints people to sensitive intelligence jobs who have absolutely no experience in intelligence operations, he is gambling with the security of the United States.
Intelligence is gathered by professional intelligence officers who are trained to develop sensitive information through the use of human and technological sources. Many of these human sources put their lives on the line every day to gather critical facts about what our adversaries are up to. That information is highly classified because if it were revealed to our enemies, the lives of our spies would be in jeopardy.
It was my experience as director of the CIA that those who serve in intelligence are not Democrats or Republicans; they are good Americans first and foremost. They have a tough job, and they do it because they are committed to protecting our nation.
When the president ignores how intelligence is provided and collected, and when he appoints people to sensitive intelligence jobs who have absolutely no experience in intelligence operations, he is gambling with the security of the United States. If the sole purpose of appointees is not intelligence but to fulfill political directives that are focused on personal or partisan goals, they will undermine the fundamental purpose of intelligence. Political hacks do not belong in the job of protecting the security of America.
Political hacks do not belong in the job of protecting the security of America.
And the fact is, when the president allows politics to control his decisions on national security, he is betraying his responsibility as commander-in-chief. He is weakening the nation and sending a message to our adversaries that he cares more about petty politics than national defense.
In other words, he is hurting himself. He needs good intelligence. The operation in Venezuela to capture Nicolás Maduro would not have happened were it not for outstanding intelligence. If highly qualified intelligence personnel are fired because of the political whims of the president, he and his administration will bear the consequences.
Added to these concerns is the demand by the president that American intelligence officials turn over the names of all foreign espionage targets, including suspected spies and potential recruits, to create a master list that intelligence officials fear will be misused or compromise operations.
Again, valuable intelligence is gathered by spies who are often located in sensitive, high-level positions among our adversaries. Their purpose is to provide critical information on potential threats to U.S. security.
There is no question that assembling our most important assets in one list could fatally compromise long-running intelligence investigations and operations.
There is no question that assembling our most important assets in one list could fatally compromise long-running intelligence investigations and operations. The identities of these spies are carefully protected secrets, walled off from other personnel even inside their own agencies.
Assembling such a list would make it easy for our adversaries to identify these sensitive sources and jeopardize not only their mission but also their lives. The first responsibility of a president is to protect those brave enough to put their lives on the line for their nation.
In the CIA building at Langley, there are two important sights that greet every visitor. On the wall to the left of the entrance is an inscription from the bible: “and the truth shall set you free.” On the wall to the right of the entrance is a growing group of stars that represent those intelligence officers — many of their names still classified — who gave their lives on behalf of their country. Intelligence is about speaking truth to power. That truth is gathered by brave and courageous intelligence officers who are willing to risk their lives for their country. The president needs to understand those missions cannot be sacrificed to politics.
The U.S. has the strongest intelligence officers and agencies in the world. We are living with threats from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and terrorism. It makes no sense to undermine those on the front lines of our defense, who swore an oath to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution. Our nation, not our politics, must come first.
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