A Georgetown University professor who spent 12 years as a CIA intelligence analyst warned that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts and the overall politicization of the intelligence community have become “significant” problems and he believes the agency will try to disrupt the 2024 election just as much as efforts them in 2020.
“My guess is that the proverbial situation in the intelligence community will resurface because maybe the Republican nominee will again be seen as a threat to the domestic policies that many intelligence people like,” Dr. John Gentry, author of the new book, “Neutralizing the CIA: Why US Intelligence Against Trump Has Long-Term Consequences,” said Fox News Digital.
Within days of a scathing New York Post story detailing the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop ahead of the 2020 election, 51 former intelligence officials signed a letter in an effort to discredit the laptop, saying it “has all the classic hallmarks of a Russian information operation.” .”
The CIA approved the publication of Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop letters, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital in 2023.
Gentry told Fox News Digital that degrading Hunter Biden’s laptop was “obviously political” and that a highly placed source told him “in no uncertain terms” that it was done “explicitly” with “the intent to help the Biden campaign.”
Dr. John Gentry, who spent 12 years as a CIA intelligence analyst, warned the American people about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts and the overall politicization of the intelligence community. Fox News
He said there have been signs in recent weeks that current or former intelligence agency members will be active in 2024.
“I’ve long thought we’re likely to again see former intelligence officials politically active against Trump or whoever the Republican presidential nominee is next year, and I expect leaks to resume,” Gentry said. “The ‘former’ activity has resumed, a little earlier than I expected.”
Gentry was referring to a recent article from Marc Polymeropoulos, a CIA officer who retired in 2019 and co-chaired Hunter Biden’s laptop “open letter” and former FBI employee Asha Rangappa that warned of the dangers of Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign. traces
“Asha Rangappa used to work for the FBI and was also openly anti-Trump, although as a relatively young ex, she attracted less attention than many,” Gentry said. “I think it is appropriate to monitor these people closely. Many have compromised their credibility with actions such as the ‘Laptop 51’ letter.”
The CIA approved the publication of the infamous Hunter Biden laptop letter. ABC
A key issue over the past few decades, Gentry said, has been the introduction of DEI policies at major intelligence agencies, including the CIA, which diverted attention from day-to-day operations to a more “woke” political agenda.
“It’s been an effort for the last half century to get more women and minorities into the intelligence community,” Gentry said. “This is done under the rubric of affirmative action. It gradually became more of a policy through the Clinton administration. But it took a significant step forward, or not, depending on your perspective, when President Obama signed an executive order designed to increase diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce.“
Gentry revealed that discussions of personal politics did not occur during his time at the CIA. AFP/Getty Images
Gentry told Fox News Digital that discussions of personal politics did not occur during his time at the CIA but that sources in the intelligence community during the Obama years told him that standards had largely “disappeared” and that political activism was “common”.
Two of the main drivers of a more politically active intelligence agency, Gentry explained, were former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
Gentry said Brennan and Clapper were both “… very supportive of Obama’s desire to transform the federal workforce, and so they started to accelerate this process and do some things from a policy action standpoint, in terms of specific hiring efforts, for example, and they pushed workers them to care more about issues of diversity and inclusion and, even in Brennan’s case, to be politically active.”
Gentry told Fox News Digital that there is no doubt that the DEI and the politicization within the intelligence agency have had a negative effect on the morale of the rank and file.
“There are a lot of people who are unhappy about it because it politicizes the workforce, and it divides the workforce between people who believe in DEI’s policies and those who don’t,” Gentry said.
“And even during the Obama period, the director of analysis had people who started talking about, quote, ‘soft totalitarianism.’ That was a direct result of Brennan’s politically driven top-down policies; totalitarianism is reminiscent of the Soviet Union and China and so on. Well, this has some impact in terms of performance and in terms of credibility.”
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was one of the main drivers of a more politically active intelligence agency, Gentry explained. Getty Images
Gentry said his book hopes to help readers “appreciate that there are significant political problems within the agency” and that former members of the intel community see how effective they are in damaging Trump in 2020 and “no one is being criticized.”
“So put all these things together, and I’m pretty confident that we’re going to see a resurgence of activism,” Gentry said.
In a speech at the Aspen Security Forum in July, CIA Director William Burns addressed the issue of politicization in the intelligence community.
“My duty, and President Biden often reminds me of this, is to offer the best intelligence that we can gather and analyze directly, even if it inconveniences policymakers. I’ve spent enough time on the other side of the table to know when it’s inconvenient, when someone tells you that the big new idea is actually not that big, not that new, and not that effective,” Burns said.
“Our job is to be honest about that, whether or not it’s welcome downtown, in the White House, or other parts of the executive branch. It is not an easy role to play, but it is a very important one. It’s one I take seriously. I know Director Haines did and others throughout the US intelligence community. That’s what our officers do their best to provide.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
