The Russian connectionU.S. intelligence: a “truth-devoted” culture

Washington has been rocked recently by news reports, citing federal intelligence agencies and the FBI, that said senior associates of now-President Donald Trump had frequent contact with Russian government officials during the 2016 campaign. News reports also said that during the transition, National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had phone conversations with the Russian ambassador about U.S. sanctions. Those reports led to Flynn’s resignation on Monday.

In a news conference on Thursday, Trump denied having contact with Russian officials and said he wasn’t aware of anyone in his inner circle doing so during the campaign. He also defended Flynn, blaming news leaks that he believes came from inside the U.S. intelligence community.

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, now a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, was director of intelligence and counterintelligence at the U.S. Department of Energy and was a decorated CIA intelligence officer. He discussed with the Harvard Gazette the nature of intelligence work, the belief structure that drives those who do it, the probe of Russian interference in the election, and the friction between the Trump administration and the intelligence agencies.

Gazette: Who enters into the intelligence community? What motivates them to take on jobs that are so complex and potentially dangerous for little or no public glory? Do they care about politics?
Mowatt-Larssen: Typically, they are very patriotic. Because we have such a duty to act independently and objectively in our work, most CIA officers keep our political views to ourselves. In my experience, most are very nonpartisan in how they go about their work, and they separate their work from their private views.