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WASHINGTON: The main US intelligence office told lawmakers it will end in-person briefings on election security because it is concerned about possible leaks, officials said on Saturday (August 29).
The move drew heated retorts from Democratic lawmakers who have focused on foreign efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and again this year.
President Donald Trump’s new director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, notified the intelligence panels of the House and Senate on Friday that the office would send written reports, giving lawmakers fewer opportunities to lobby for tailored details. that the November 3 elections are approaching. An official in Ratcliffe’s office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was “concerned about the unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information following recent briefings.”
“This is a shocking abdication of its legal responsibility to keep Congress informed today, and a betrayal of the public’s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy,” the Speaker of the House of Representatives said in a statement. Nancy Pelosi, and the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff. statement on Saturday.
Ratcliffe’s office had offered to hold face-to-face briefings for the House and Senate oversight panels next month, even after concerns were raised about leaks from previous meetings, a House committee official said. He later rescinded the offer.
The decision was first reported by CNN.
Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican and acting chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement Saturday night that he had spoken with Ratcliffe, who “stated unequivocally” that he would comply with the obligations of the intelligence community of keep members of Congress. informed. The committee will continue to receive reports on all oversight issues, including electoral matters, Rubio said Ratcliffe told him.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said this month that Russia, which orchestrated a hacking campaign to influence the 2016 election in Trump’s favor, was trying to “denigrate” Trump’s 2020 Democratic opponent Joe Biden. And he said China and Iran hoped Trump would not be re-elected.
“For clarity and to protect sensitive intelligence from unauthorized disclosure, we will do so primarily through written and finished intelligence products,” the ODNI official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Ratcliffe, a close political ally of Trump, is a former member of the House intelligence panel and was a strong advocate for the president during investigations of Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election. He told senators during their hearing confirmation this year that “the intelligence I deliver will not be subject to external influences.”
