In a one two punch, President Donald Trump announced via Twitter both that the nation’s number two intelligence official would be resigning and that he had named a new acting director of national intelligence ― current National Counterterrorism Center Director Joseph Maguire.
The move underscored the uncertainty over Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe's confirmation prospects. Democrats openly dismissed him as an unqualified partisan and Republicans offered only lukewarm and tentative expressions of support.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s surprise indictment last week in his wide-ranging Russia investigation sounded a fresh alarm to the U.S. government, social media companies and state election officials who are readying for the 2018 midterms.
National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said the U.S. is “under attack” in cyberspace and that Russia would step up its election meddling in 2018, spurring lawmakers to vent fears the U.S. is falling behind its adversaries.
Russian interference in the upcoming elections is part of its pursuit of bolder cyber operations and false information campaigns against America and its allies, according to a new intelligence report on global threats.
A decision to put the man who handles whistleblower complaints at U.S. spy agencies on administrative leave has raised worries on Capitol Hill that it’s part of a plan to hamstring the program that helps intelligence workers report waste, fraud and abuse.
The new policy aims to stiffen existing safeguards to ensure that names aren’t disclosed for political reasons, especially during presidential transitions.
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