Reports: Trump Ousted Acting Intel Chief After He Warned of Russian 2020 Election Meddling

2020 presidential elections, as well.

“It wasn’t a single attempt. They’re doing it as we sit here,” Mueller told lawmakers last July. “And they expect to do it during the next campaign.”

More recently, U.S. allies have warned of the Kremlin intent to interfere in the upcoming elections.

“This year, for example, Russia’s focus will certainly be on the U.S.,” Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service warned in a report earlier this month.

“The main goal is to ensure a more beneficial election result for Russia by favoring Russian-friendly candidates or those who have the most divisive influence in the West,” it said.

U.S. lawmakers have also warned about continued Russian meddling in a series of bipartisan reports by the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of which cautioned the president against using election meddling for political advantage.

“The president of the United States should take steps to separate himself or herself from political considerations when handling issues related to foreign influence operations,” a committee report issued earlier this month said.

The U.S. has been without a permanent director of national intelligence since mid-August 2019, when Dan Coats stepped down following a series of public clashes with Trump over intelligence assessments.

Already, some former intelligence officials and analysts had been expressing concern about fending off foreign information operations from Russia and others without an experienced official to lead the intelligence agencies.

Now, with Maguire gone, their concerns are growing.

“I think Joseph Maguire did as well as he could, under difficult circumstances, to stave off corruption of the intelligence community’s mission,” said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA officer now with Georgetown University.

But with U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, a well-known Trump loyalist, stepping in, that could become more difficult.

“Grenell not only has no intelligence experience, which is a negative, but is very much a partisan fighter and ideologue,” Pillar said. “Having Grenell as acting DNI promises to politicize the intelligence community more than it has been to date so far under Trump.”

James Clapper, who served as director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama, told VOA: “It is bad for continuity and stability. The over-arching message is the president simply doesn’t care, and simply wants a hood ornament loyalist sitting in the chair.”

But Grenell, who is also continuing to serve as ambassador to Germany and as Special Envoy for Serbia-Kosovo Negotiations, said on Thursday the position would be filled on a permanent basis, just not by him.

“The President will announce the Nominee (not