CIA Gets Purge and New Mission
Our premier intelligence agency will focus on the Western hemisphere.
WSJ (“The CIA Is About to Get a Trump Makeover“):
The Central Intelligence Agency offered buyouts to its entire workforce Tuesday, in what officials said is a bid to bring the agency in line with President Trump’s priorities, including targeting drug cartels.
The CIA appeared to be the first intelligence agency to tell its employees that they can quit their jobs and receive about eight months of pay and benefits as part of Trump’s push to downsize the federal government. The offer last month made to most civilian federal agencies exempted some categories of federal workers, including those with national security roles.
The agency is also freezing the hiring of job seekers already given a conditional offer, an aide to CIA Director John Ratcliffe said. Some are likely to be rescinded if the applicants don’t have the right background for the agency’s new goals, which also include Trump’s trade war and undermining China, the aide said.
[…]
Trump administration officials have said the offers are also meant to signal to those who oppose Trump’s agenda to find work elsewhere. Ratcliffe told the White House to extend the same buyout package to the CIA, the aide said, believing it would pave the way for a more aggressive spy agency.
A CIA spokeswoman said the move was part of an effort to “infuse the agency with renewed energy.”
In his confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe promised to launch more hard-edge spying operations and covert action, naming drug cartels and China as key adversaries. “To the brave CIA officers listening around the world, if all of that sounds like what you signed up for, then buckle up and get ready to make a difference,” he told lawmakers last month. “If it doesn’t then it’s time to find a new line of work.”
Trump’s CIA will have a greater focus on the Western Hemisphere, targeting countries not traditionally considered adversaries of the U.S., the aide said. For example, the CIA will use espionage to give Trump extra leverage in his trade negotiations, potentially spying on Mexico’s government amid the ongoing trade spat, the aide said. The CIA will also take on a significant role fighting Mexican drug cartels, the aide said, which Trump designated as terror groups on his first day in office.
For the decades after its creation, the CIA was focused on America’s rivalry with the Soviet Union. After 9/11, the agency transformed much of its workforce into a shadowy paramilitary force that could kill terrorists with drones. In recent years, the CIA has shifted back to focus on countries including China, which has been widely viewed by national security officials as the U.S.’s greatest long-term threat.
The Trump administration and the intelligence community clashed at times in his first term, but some CIA officers later said they missed the greater latitude to conduct covert operations against America’s adversaries under Trump.
The Trump-Musk plan to oust federal employees perceived as disloyal to President Trump initially spared those in law enforcement and national security positions. That the purge soon extended to the FBI and CIA is telling. Historically, the intelligence and law enforcement communities have been seen as among the few parts of the federal civilian workforce that leans Republican. That Trump and his team see them as a threat is a huge red flag.
The WSJ report somewhat misrepresents the nature of the CIA during the war on terrorism. It’s certainly true that there was a renewed emphasis on “direct action” missions and drone warfare, both of which made me a bit queasy. Those are military, not intelligence, missions and should be handled by military professionals and done in accordance with the laws of war. Regardless, this was a small part of what officers in the Directorate of Operations (briefly renamed the Clandestine Service) did. And the vast majority of CIA officers are analysts, not action officers.
Shifting the focus of our premier intelligence agency from gathering and analyzing information regarding our key adversaries into one aimed at conducting trade wars with regional partners and doing counter-drug operations makes no sense to me. We already have government agencies that do commerce and drug enforcement.
Several successive administrations—including the Trump 45 administration—saw China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea as our primary nation-state adversaries, with violent extremist organizations and others as tertiary, persistent threats. Certainly, key figures in the administration—including the Secretary of State and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy—continue to hold that view. It strikes me as a mistake to refocus the CIA to tertiary threats.
Spying against friendlies to get a leg up in trade negotiations? The mind reels. Trump is like a dog with its owner’s sock. Last night CBS showed an interview with a soy bean farmer who will be crushed by Trump’s China tariffs….just as he was during Trump 1.0, and he proudly voted for Trump again, reasoning that Trump “saved us” with subsidies the last time, and he will do it again. Pass the bourbon, please.
I wonder which adversary benefits the most from this intelligence bloodbath?
I’m not saying if Mad Vlad placed a mole in the Oval Office that he’d do what the felon is doing, but I’ve no idea why I’m not saying that.
Gee, what could go wrong?
I doubt CIA purges will lower the surging price of eggs and coffee, nor housing, healthcare, and energy costs. But it will do what Trump’s release of 1,500+ criminals did: make Americans less safe.
@MBunge:
Not one part of this is true, including the words “the”, “and” and most of the punctuation.
@MBunge:
Are you going to volunteer for occupation duty in Gaza? Because if you were, it strikes me that you’d want the CIA looking at the threat situation there. And given that ISIS and Al Qaeda are not entirely gone, and given that we’re giving them extra motivation, it strikes me that we might want to have the CIA keep an eye on them. But sure, let’s pay super close attention to El Salvador because Americans can’t stop gobbling up fentanyl.
MAGAs are the stupidest voting bloc in American history.
1) When the former, not active, officials wrote that Rudy still wasn’t letting people look at the laptop. It had not been looked at by law officials to confirm it was real and had not been tampered with.
2) The CIA told us Russia was going to invade Ukraine. People on the right, who now support Putin because Trump who likes him, didnt believe them. Besides which, I know this is hard to believe, but there is a whole world out there besides Russia. (Will have to say I dont know what you mean by Russian hysteria. They actually have been trying to interfere in our elections. We muck around in theirs when we can so its to be expected. AS I noted, Russia did really attack Ukraine. Trump officials really did have some close encounters and relationships with Russia and its proxies.)
That aside, I am not sure what the CIA would add in going after drug cartels. As far as trade wars go what secret info will we acquire from Mexico. Maybe they dont take siestas anymore?
Steve
Purge the CIA and confine its mission to the western hemisphere.
Inflame the Middle East with talk of taking over and “owning” Gaza.
Throw the FAA into turmoil with policy shakeup.
What could go wrong?
@MBunge:
Reasonably, and with much more cogent argument, the same can be said of those taking your position, willfully ignoring the facts as you do with so many of Trump’s egregious transgressions towards our established laws and social compact.
If he walks like a Russian asset, squawks like a Russian asset, he is likely a Russian asset.
(Weren’t you interviewed in a Jordan Klepper piece at one time or other recently?)
The mission of the CIA and the FBI and NOAA and others is to be totally obedient to Trump. It is that simple.
I never the thought the worst thing that could happen to the US intelligence services would not be Tulsi Gabbard.
@MBunge: Screaming lies in all caps won’t make your falsehoods less false, it just shows desperation. Trump is a Russian asset who colluded with Russian meddling.
In 2016, rapist Trump publicly called for Russian election interference:
Trump asked Russia to find Clinton’s emails. On or around the same day, Russians targeted her accounts (PBS)
Democrats were then hacked by the Russians. Trump’s scampaign met with Russian operatives in Trump Tower; shortly thereafter, the Republican platform softened Russian sanctions language at Trump’s behest.
Both Steve Bannon via Cambridge Analytica and Trump’s Russian asset campaign chair Paul Manafort — who had previously helped Putin meddle in Ukrainian elections — coordinated with the Russians. Cambridge Analytica data scientist Christopher Wylie openly admitted doing so.
Manafort also came clean:
Paul Manafort admits he passed Trump campaign data to a suspected Russian asset (Business Insider)
Yet brainwashed MAGA slaves like you keep lying. Psychotic.
Trump was impeached for his criminal attempt to blackmail Ukraine; and Trump later said he would encourage Russians to “do whatever the hell they want” to our European allies. Trump also called Putin’s genocidal and imperialist Ukraine invasion “genius” and “savvy.”
It’s nice Trump is recently talking tough against Russia. But will Trump follow with action, supporting Ukraine? Tapping Gabbard and recklessly dismantling US intel and law enforcement does not bode well. (Nor will it fix the cost of living issues Trump was supposed to fix on day one.)
In the rightwing bubble, up is down, Trump is good, and the “Russia hoax” hoax is gospel. This is what we’re up against.
@reid:
And just to emphasize how deep inside the rabbit hole “conservative” (lol) media sheep are:
Trump asked Russia to find Clinton’s emails. On or around the same day, Russians targeted her accounts (PBS)
Paul Manafort admits he passed Trump campaign data to a suspected Russian asset (Business Insider)
Cambridge Analytica whistleblower: Bannon ordered Putin messaging tests (Politico)
Trump camp: “We colluded with Russia.”
Trump slaves: “It’s a CIA hoax!”
MAGA is a mental illness. But Trump noted he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and his braindead incels would still deny it in his defense. Loony and broken-brained.
He also said, “We won with poorly educated, I love the poorly educated.” He was right, the billionaire oligarchy is laughing all the way to the bank, thanks to these uneducated whackjobs. (And the education to which I refer is not college degrees and credentials.)
Sadly, you and I are part of the reality based community, a minority in America now. In MAGA world, why does the CIA need analysts when Trump’s word is gospel? Want to know what is going on inside the mind of Xi Jinping? Trump will pull the answer out of his ass. Analysts will only get in the way of his genius with pesky facts.
@DK: And the Senate, before its GOP members were completely neutered, released a damning report on the topic.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/senate-panel-finds-russia-interfered-in-the-2016-us-election
@Rob1:
Or a Russian useful idiot. that would be more in character.
@MBunge:..a Russia that struggles to subdue Ukraine poses little threat to the U.S.
Maybe you’ve been living under a rock and you missed it.
Your boyfriend Trump ended that war 18 days ago just like he said he would!.
You really need to keep up!
@MBunge:
A long time ago someone was quoted (I forget who, probably Yogi Berra) as saying, I don’t believe in miracles, I count on them.’
Well, in the same paraphrasing spirit I would say that with Trump it’s tempting to say that he’s an idiot, but I don’t believe that. What I do believe is that he counts on idiots.
A few weeks ago, I read an article online (wish I could remember where I saw it) that suggests Trump may be thinking in terms of spheres of influence. We get the Western Hemisphere, Russia gets Europe and Central Asia, China gets East and South Asia (perhaps shared with India). This could be a part of that “strategy.” /s
@SC_Birdflyte:
Given that he has a McKinley fetish and a mercantilist economic plan, going for 19th century Great Power foreign policy would be right in line.
@SC_Birdflyte:
I think not, on the whole.
Europe tends to be a gristly lump to attempt to chew upon.
Some Americans seem, for some peculiar reason, to overlook that Europe (even excluding Turkey) has a military manpower of over 1.5 million, and a combined defence budget of $450 bn pa.
Europe’s issue/problem is that, in large part because of NATO, and the failure of the European Defence Community project in the 1950’s, that effort is spread between 29 states, each with separate command authorities and budgets.
It still has the capacity, if forced to it, to become a Power.
Arguably the only one, currently, capable of being a peer to the US and China.
Russia, by comparison, is out of its league, in power-potential.
A considerable consideration in post-1945 US strategy was both in the containment of the Soviet Union, and the prevention of a rise of a potential adversary in Europe.
Europe post-1945 has largely been rather pacific, and divided.
A position that France has sometimes attempted to alter, and the UK has largely been inclined to side with the US in maintaining.
This is not a situation ordained by God and Nature.
@MBunge:
A Russia that is reckless and irrational enough to invade Ukraine for reasons of (quite obviously) rather paranoid “regime protection” politics, is obviously a threat to other neighbours because it is both risk-inclined, and, above all, stupid.
You overlook the possible consequences that a “revanchist Russia (being) a big problem for Europe” might have in regard to Europe.
Especially if the US is perceived as a broken reed in terms of alliance reliability.
It may open up various doors you might, later, have preferred remained shut.
Meanwhile, it looks like Gabbard is on track to become Director of National Intelligence.
If this happens, which now seems almost certain, there are going to have to fundamental re-assessments of how far the post-1941 defence and intelligence information sharing integration between the UK and the US can be continued.
@Michael Reynolds:
Also, does this mean the CIA no longer pays attention to China?
“Yay me!”, say Xi.
@Kingdaddy:
France?
😉
@DK:
And never mind Mike Flynn.
(Except, I do mind Flynn. Him and Gabbard.)
@JohnSF:
Another unqualified pick. At least Hegseth is just profoundly unqualified for his position. Gabbard is both profoundly unqualified AND likely an asset of a foreign power.
Hey, don’t forget the other three of the Five Eyes. They would feel left out.
And speaking of the CIA…
https://bsky.app/profile/hugolowell.bsky.social/post/3lhh76jlkhk2t
@JohnSF:
There’s a phrase from the early post-war days that NATO was meant to keep the Americans in, the Soviets out, and the Germans down.
Then, too, Europe pretty much conquered most of the world, not all at once, between the XV and mid XX century. At one time or another, all of the Americas, much of Africa (almost all), and a big chunk of Asia, were European colonies or possessions of some sort. Nations not taken over, like China, were nevertheless subservient to the European powers.
But I’m sure you knew all this.
@Mikey:
Well, I suspect Canada is already considering options quite intensively.
And if Trump follow through on shafting Taiwan, Australia is likely to get nervous.
And India to reconsider what its relationship to the “Quad” (India, US, Japan, and Australia) re SE Asia/IndOc might be.
@Kathy:
That was, in part, a Brit joke.
Though in the early period, quite a serious joke: Germany did not join NATO till 1955,
There was still British and French concern about German revanchism or Soviet aligned neutralism prior to that.
Perhaps more important were the different conclusions that the UK and France derived from the Suez Crisis:
UK: “Never be divided from the Americans”
France: “Never trust the Americans”
@JohnSF:
I recall quite a bit of concern over German reunification in the 90s.
@Kathy:
Margaret Thatcher was rather concerned, as were a lot of Brits of her generation.
Lot of bad memories, re Germany.
Not just WW2; the Great War was still a big thing in generational memory, if second-hand.
The interesting thing was, how the Germans managed to avert French objections, if you know anything about how suspicious the French political establishment was of a re-empowered Germany c 1945-65.
They key thing was, that Bonn always judged nicely how far to triangulate between Paris and Washingotn.
And when to keep quiet when France worked out its animus re the US by shitting on the UK.
European politics: always fun. Lol.
Golly gosh, I know I’m safer knowing that Trump’s Hegseth has canceled that dastardly Sexual Assault Prevention and Response training in all branches of the military! Because nothing says “great country again” like rape, which definitely didn’t happen if we don’t report it, just like racism and tuberculosis!
Anyone, and I mean literally anyone, who thinks this is a good idea is a stone-cold idiot.
This will make us less safe, yes, in the near term while everyone is distracted, but even more so in the long run, when we lose institutional knowledge, trusted relationships, and more.
@Gavin: “Golly gosh, I know I’m safer knowing that Trump’s Hegseth has canceled that dastardly Sexual Assault Prevention and Response training in all branches of the military!”
Yeah, quick, someone ask Joni Ernst about that pledge Hegseth made to her that allowed her to support him…