Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
259 Articles
The Real Target of Trump’s Security Clearance Threats
I can’t believe I’m writing a column in defense of former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former National Security…
Exclusive: Trump White House’s Intelligence Chief Is Leaving
Michael Barry is the latest staffer on the powerful council to depart as National Security Adviser John Bolton brings on his own team.
Policy and Legal Implications of European Court’s Ruling on CIA “Black Sites”
A Casa 235 turboprop plane at Ruzyne Airport April 8, 2005 in Prague, Czech Republic before leaving for Afghanistan. According to airport flight records the plane was registered…
Enhanced Evasion Techniques
On Thursday, May 17, after only a few hours of debate, the Senate approved Gina Haspel’s nomination as CIA director by a margin of 54 to 45 votes. The vote broke largely, but…
The Intel Community’s Annual Transparency Report Raises More Questions Than It Answers
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence's new mandatory report, summarizing certain intelligence agencies’ surveillance activities in 2017, is one of the most important…
Gina Haspel: Feminist Smokescreen, Not Choice
Over the weekend, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that it would be hypocritical to at once “support women’s empowerment” and oppose the nomination of Gina…
The Diplomats Speak: More Opposition to Gina Haspel’s Nomination to Head the CIA
Above: CIA headquarters. An august group of 115 retired diplomats have now circulated their own letter (reproduced below) in opposition to the nomination of Gina Haspel to lead…
Can An Insider Save CIA From Itself?
As confirmation hearings loom for Gina Haspel to be director of CIA, the focus has understandably been on what actions she might have taken in the Agency’s enhanced interrogation…
More Questions for Gina Haspel—The Record of False CIA Claims about Torture’s “Efficacy”
Recently Katherine Hawkins published a comprehensive set of questions that Gina Haspel, nominee to head the CIA, should be asked during her confirmation hearings (“What the…
The Haspel Nomination as a Referendum on (Un-)Accountability
One of the consistent themes of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence over the past few decades has been aggressive hostility to “judge-made” remedies, i.e., the…
“I’m Going to Defend My Guys to My Last Breath” Morell’s Virtual Whitewash on the Destruction of CIA Videos
On Friday, April 20 the CIA declassified a memo, written in 2011 by then-Deputy Director Mike Morell, about the destruction of 92 videotapes of “enhanced interrogations” at…
Gina Haspel’s Nomination to Head the CIA: Why the Controversy & What is at Stake?
The Senate has recently confirmed Mike Pompeo to be Secretary of State, after Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) dropped his objections and several Democrats indicated that they would support…