POLITICIZING INTELLIGENCEPulling Reports, Playing Politics
The CIA’s retraction of intelligence reports should raise concerns about politicization and the Trump administration’s embrace of white supremacist rhetoric.
Editor’s Note from Lawfare Foreign Policy Editor Daniel Byman: The Trump administration’s decision to retract several pieces of intelligence analysis is another sign of its effort to politicize the intelligence process. American University’s Joey Stabile examines one redacted assessment on the role of women in white supremacist violence, arguing that its analysis was strong and that the decision to withdraw it is linked to the administration’s political agenda.
On Feb. 20, CIA Director John Ratcliffe publicly ordered the retraction or substantial revision of intelligence products that he alleged did not meet CIA and intelligence community analytic tradecraft standards and “failed to be independent of political consideration.” Among the 19 products in question, the CIA released three redacted assessments that it said “exhibit substantial deviations from the President’s expectations that CIA’s workforce remains independent from a particular audience, agenda, or policy viewpoint.”
This move warrants close scrutiny, particularly given the focus of the three redacted assessments. Though a senior CIA official dismissed the assessments as “related to diversity, equity or inclusion” (DEI), the products cover human rights crackdowns, threats to economic development, and violent extremist recruitment patterns. In singling out these reports as examples of DEI—a catch-all scapegoat for the Trump administration—CIA leadership appears to be prioritizing scoring political points over nonpartisan analysis of pressing global trends.
Among these assessments, the retraction of one product in particular, “Women Advancing White Racially and Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremist [REMVE] Radicalization and Recruitment,” carries several concerning implications. The withdrawal of the report belies observable evidence about transnational extremist threats, contributes to the politicization of the intelligence community, and raises alarm in light of the administration’s ongoing spread of white supremacist rhetoric.
Assessing the Assessment
Reports indicate that former officials who reviewed the redacted assessments found no indication of bias or shoddy tradecraft. Instead, former officials suggest that the documents “simply reflected the policy priorities of past administrations.” Upon closer examination, however, the REMVE-focused product actually appears to align with the investigative and strategic priorities of both the Biden administration and the first Trump administration. The decision to retract an assessment about a legitimate threat to public safety thus suggests an ulterior motive.
