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The main US intelligence office has told lawmakers that it will largely stop holding in-person briefings on election security, indicating that it does not trust lawmakers to keep the information secret.
Donald Trump’s new director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, notified House and Senate intelligence panels on Friday that he would send written reports, giving lawmakers fewer opportunities to press for details as the election approaches. November 3.
An official in Ratcliffe’s office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Saturday that the office was “concerned about unauthorized disclosures of confidential information after recent briefings.”
The move drew a heated retort from House Democrats, who have focused on foreign efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and again this year.
“This is a shocking abdication of your 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,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and intelligence committee chair Adam Schiff said in a statement.
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 He later rescinded the offer.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 intelligence select committee, said in a statement Saturday night that he had spoken with Ratcliffe, who “stated unequivocally” that he would fulfill the obligations of the intelligence community. to keep members of Congress informed.
The committee will continue to receive reports on all oversight issues, including electoral matters, Rubio said Ratcliffe told him. It was unclear if Rubio meant they would be in-person briefings.
Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, told reporters during a visit to Texas that Ratcliffe “will finally give full reports, not in terms of oral reports, but full intelligence reports.”
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 finished intelligence products,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Biden said in a statement late Saturday that the bureau was cutting back on one of the intelligence community’s most basic duties and that it is “nothing short of blatant partisan manipulation to protect President Trump’s personal interests.”
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.”
