Trump’s Acting Intel Chief Begins Purge of Top Officials, MS NOW Reports

Bill Pulte, President Donald Trump’s controversial acting director of national intelligence, began purging top national security officials on Friday, a move that was widely expected.

The firings were first reported on MS NOW by White House reporter Vaughn Hillyard.

Pulte, who has no military or national security experience, is widely viewed as a partisan operative Trump put in charge of the country’s national security apparatus for political reasons. Pulte previously led the charge to indict some of Trump’s top domestic political foes on allegations of mortgage fraud, charges which have largely been dismissed in court.

“Right, new to MS NOW, I’m told by an intelligence official that the current Acting Director of National Intelligence, Bill Pulte, has begun moving forward with dozens of terminations of intelligence officials under the agencies of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Now, this is notable — two weeks ago he removed and fired six political appointees who were serving under then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard,” began Hillyard, adding:

But since President Trump put Bill Pulte in this acting position — Pulte, who we could expect to serve in this capacity for several months while another individual, who he has put forward as a nominee for the full-time position, goes through a confirmation process — Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte has his hands at the wheel.

And I am told by an intelligence official, who is remaining anonymous out of fear of reprisal, that this is a moment where, over the last 24 hours — and we can expect in the days ahead — Pulte, out of the belief among some in leadership… I’m told that there are individuals who they claim are, quote, “part of the deep state,” withholding information related to intelligence that has been requested by leadership at the ODNI, and that those individuals are the ones being terminated. These are not just political appointees — these are career officials.

Now, as part of this reporting, of course, it’s important to also bring into context reporting with our colleague David Rohde on the national security side here at MS NOW, that former officials tell us they have never heard of such a move as this — but, more importantly, that they have never heard of intelligence officials within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or the more than 15 agencies — including the CIA — that fall under it, actively withholding requested information.

Again, I’m told by one official that the terminations are happening out of a belief by leadership at the ODNI, including Bill Pulte, that those being removed are individuals whom they suspect of being part of the so-called deep state and not providing the full picture of intelligence assessments under their purview.

So there are going to be a lot of questions here, but what we do know is that this is not normal. This also comes at a time when there are elevated concerns about potential intelligence in the hands of ODNI officials related to elections, or even to other foreign governments — and the extent to which this administration, at the urging of Donald Trump himself (who we heard from just yesterday, on his way to North Dakota), wants the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify as much as they can related to past election, quote, “fraud.”

There is an active effort within the agencies under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to move forward with providing an assessment of the intel available — one that Bill Pulte is actively seeking to look at. And now we know, a couple of weeks into him taking this job as acting director, that he and leadership have moved forward. Just yesterday, I’m told, individuals began leaving headquarters at ODNI. But these firings — to the understanding of the one intelligence official I talked to — other individuals will be on their way out in the days ahead, and the number is expected to total in the dozens

Watch the clip above via MS NOW.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!