Former acting National Intelligence director rips Congress for leaks

Former U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell (Facebook)

Members of Congress leaking secret information almost has become an art form for Democrats trying to undermine President Trump.

It’s not that Republicans also didn’t do that under Barack Obama.

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But Richard Grenell, the former acting Director of National Intelligence, is praising an announcement by the current DNI, John Ratcliffe, that information provided to Congress must be in written form.

In a column for the American Center for Law and Justice, he said, “While Rep. Adam Schiff and the media in Washington, D.C., try and pretend like members of Congress are no longer receiving briefings, the truth is that they are still getting all the important national security and intelligence information they deserve, but in a different format.”

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Grenell said everyone outside of Washington “knows we have a problem with leaks of intelligence information; and often, and worse, it is unverified intelligence leaks designed for political purposes.’

“It’s actually a crisis,” he said. “Intelligence is an estimate, and it should be used by policy makers as a thoughtful estimate and one data source as they create public policy. Unverified intelligence, however, should not be used by the public or U.S. policy makers until U.S. experts evaluate its veracity. This is because unverified intelligence is just that: not verified. Reporters who pretend that unverified intelligence is verified do the public a great disservice.”

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He said both parties have done it, “but it is a crisis that must end” because “manipulating intelligence for political gain is making Americans less safe.”

Ratcliffe’s new policy will make leaking harder, he said.

That’s because it puts “leakers, politicians, and reporters on notice that one-sided verbal leaks should be met with skepticism. Responsible reporters now know that there is a larger context, in a thoughtful written form, that they may be missing.”

Further, news editors should make sure their reporters are not “irresponsible,” acting as advocates.

“And the news consumer should beware,” he said.

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He said he knows career government experts who don’t like to brief members of Congress for fear they will be “purposefully manipulating” their statements.

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff should not threaten these public servants by demanding that they show up and take the humiliation that politicians callously give out. The politicization of U.S. national intelligence must stop,” he wrote.

via wnd