Acting Director of National Intelligence and Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell is accusing House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of politicizing the intelligence community and others agree.
According to Fox News Genell wasn’t happy with the order of operations taken by Schiff:
Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell accused House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff late Tuesday of “politicizing” the intelligence community by leaking concerns about personnel changes to the press.
Schiff, D-Calif., on Tuesday, penned a letter to Grenell laying out his concerns with the acting director’s staffing changes in the Office of National Intelligence.
But Grenell slammed Schiff, saying the press received that letter before he did.
His letter was sent to the press before it was sent to me. These press leaks politicizing the intelligence community must stop. https://t.co/hdWIzGWvZr
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 7, 2020
Other officials in the intelligence committee have taken issue with Schiff’s actions as well. As The Daily Caller reports:
One intelligence official noted that letters sent to ODNI by the Senate Intelligence Committee include signatures from both Chairman Richard Burr and Ranking Member Mark Warner and, often times, additional Senators from both parties. Schiff’s letter, the official pointed out, was sent from his office alone, without the notarization of Ranking Member Devin Nunes.
“The [ODNI] staffers are so sick and tired of [Schiff] politicizing the intelligence community for his own gain,” the official told Daily Caller. “Notice how he sent the letter to the media before he sent it to ODNI.”
A second intelligence official declined to directly comment on Schiff’s letter but told Daily Caller that the Senate Intelligence Committee had not told Grenell and ODNI to refrain from making any personnel decisions, despite some media reports.
Schiff’s letter in particular singles out the recent replacement of the Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Russ Travers with Lara Shioa, the first woman ever-tapped to lead the nation’s counterterrorism efforts.
Schiff has been a major obstructionist of President Trump and his administration and his behavior does not seem to be changing as the country faces a pandemic crisis.
