New review finds John Brennan pushed to include Steele dossier in intel review
Former CIA Director John Brennan, who served under former President Barack Obama, has come under scrutiny for his push to include the controversial “Steele dossier” in the assessment evaluating Russian interference in the 2016 election. A review declassified on Wednesday revealed that Brennan’s insistence on including the dossier, which contained salacious and unverified allegations about President Donald Trump’s connections to Russia, went against intelligence standards and undermined the credibility of the assessment.
The CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency’s Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian interference in the 2016 election was found to have deviated from traditional intelligence practices and exhibited “procedural anomalies” in the newly declassified lessons-learned review. The review determined that the decision to include the Steele dossier in the assessment was contrary to fundamental tradecraft principles and weakened the key judgment of the report.
According to the review, the CIA’s deputy director for analysis raised concerns about including the dossier in the assessment, warning Brennan that it would jeopardize the credibility of the entire report. Despite these objections, Brennan favored maintaining narrative consistency over analytical soundness and insisted that the dossier be included in the assessment. This move was criticized for prioritizing conformity with existing theories over legitimate tradecraft concerns.
The Steele dossier, commissioned by opposition research firm Fusion GPS on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, contained unverified allegations, including claims that Trump had engaged in illicit activities with Russian prostitutes. Trump has denied the allegations in the dossier, which were compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele.
The lessons-learned review also highlighted other flaws in the drafting of the ICA, such as a rushed timeline and unusual involvement of agency heads in the assessment process. Brennan’s premature indication of consensus among intelligence community analysts on Russian interference before the assessment was completed was also criticized for potentially stifling analytic debate.
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe ordered the review of the ICA to focus on the assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin had sought to assist Trump in winning the 2016 election. The declassification of the review was intended to promote transparency and ensure that analysts could deliver unbiased assessments free from political influence.
Ratcliffe emphasized the need to avoid politically charged environments in intelligence assessments and pledged to uphold the integrity of the intelligence community under his watch. The revelations from the declassified review shed light on the complexities and challenges of producing objective and reliable intelligence assessments in a highly politicized environment.
