The news article discusses the appointment of Michael Ellis and John Ratcliffe to high-ranking positions within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under the Trump administration. It highlights concerns regarding their past actions and potential influence on the agency's neutrality, citing accusations of political bias and mishandling of classified information.
Much of the public might be unfamiliar with Michael Ellis, but as regular readers might recall, he was a rather important figure during Donald Trump’s first term. In 2017, for example, Ellis’ name first started appearing in national reports when he was accused of using his position in the White House counsel’s office to feed sensitive information to one of the president’s congressional allies. Two years later, then-Lt. Col.
In early October 2020, for example, The New York Times summarized Ratcliffe’s work this way: “He has approved selective declassifications of intelligence that aim to score political points, left Democratic lawmakers out of briefings, accused congressional opponents of leaks, offered Republican operatives top spots in his headquarters and made public assertions that contradicted professional intelligence assessments.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CIA INTELLIGENCE POLITICS RATCLIFFE
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