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President Trump made history this week after appointing Richard Grenell to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence. The new job, a cabinet-level position, makes Grenell the highest serving openly gay man to hold federal office in United States history.

President Trump's new acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell, has already made major changes at the agency, including ousting the No. 2 official. Former acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire and his deputy, Andrew Hallman, resigned on Friday. According to The New York Times, Grenell told Hallman, who has worked for national intelligence and the CIA for three decades, that his service was no longer needed. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) praised both Maguire and Hallman for their service after their resignations were announced. “For nearly four decades, Joe Maguire has dedicated his career to securing...

Incoming Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, who previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, has been given a mandate in his new position: clean house. To get the job done, Grenell is hiring staff with a history of finding abuse, specifically with the FISA court, inside the intelligence community. CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge has the story.

Today, the President designated United States Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell as Acting Director of National Intelligence. Ambassador Grenell was confirmed to his role as Ambassador by the Senate in April 2018, and he has years of experience working with our Intelligence Community in a number of additional positions, including as Special Envoy for Serbia-Kosovo Negotiations and as United States spokesman to the United Nations. He is committed to a non-political, non-partisan approach as head of the Intelligence Community, on which our safety and security depend. The President has every confidence that Ambassador Grenell will perform his new duties with...

President Trump said late Thursday that he is considering Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga, for the permanent Director of National Intelligence job, a move that could resolve the mini-crisis in the GOP surrounding Collins' challenge against incumbent Se. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga, in Georgia's upcoming special election. Yet Collins told Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo on Friday morning that while he's humbled by the possible offer, he is focused on running for the Senate and would not accept the job. "This is not a job that interests me, at this time it's not one that I would accept because I'm running a...

Feb. 20 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump has named U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell as acting Director of National Intelligence. Trump named Grenell the new DNI on Wednesday, saying he represents the United States "exceedingly well." "Ambassador Grenell was confirmed to his role as ambassador by the Senate in April 2018, and he has years of experience working with our intelligence community in a number of additional positions, including as special envoy for Serbia-Kosovo negotiations and as United States spokesman to the United Nations," the White House said in a statement Thursday. "He is committed to a non-political, non-partisan...

For a town that leaks like a sieve, Washington has done an astonishingly effective job keeping from the American public the name of the anonymous “whistleblower" who triggered impeachment proceedings against President Trump — even though his identity is an open secret inside the Beltway. More than two months after the official filed his complaint, pretty much all that’s known publicly about him is that he is a CIA analyst who at one point was detailed to the White House and is now back working at the CIA. But the name of a government official fitting that description — Eric...

Former national security adviser John Bolton told a former aide to President Trump on Russia to call White House lawyers to warn them about a pressure campaign on Ukraine, House investigators were reportedly told Monday. Bolton told Fiona Hill, the senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs, to contact the lawyer for the National Security Council and say that the president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was involved in the efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Democrats, the New York Times reported Monday night. “I am not part of whatever drug deal Rudy and Mulvaney are cooking up,” Bolton told Hill...

DNI Declassifies FISA Judge James Boasberg 2018 Ruling – FBI Conducted “Tens of Thousands” of Unauthorized NSA Database Queries… Posted on October 8, 2019 by sundance There is a lot to unpack in a decision today by the Director of National Intelligence to declassify (with redactions) a 2018 FISA court ruling about ongoing unauthorized database search queries by FBI agents/”contractors” in the period covering 2017/2018.BACKGROUND: In April 2017 the DNI released a FISA report written by Presiding Judge Rosemary Collery that showed massive abuse, via unauthorized searches of the NSA database, in the period of November 2015 through May 2016. Judge Collyer’s report specifically identified search query increases...

In February 2017, the Washington Post’s Miller had the lead byline on a story based on leaks of Trump’s conversations with Australia’s prime minister and Mexico’s president. Six months later, the Post published the entire transcripts of both conversations in another Miller story. It was through such national security correspondents that anti-Trump sources -- intelligence officials -- pushed leaks of classified information and other tidbits intended to damage Trump into the media. There it merged with other anti-Trump currents in nearly every corner of the press, where it blossomed into Russiagate. After a nearly two-year investigation, the special counsel found...

On Monday, the intelligence community inspector general (ICIG) admitted that it did alter its forms and policies governing whistleblower complaints, and that it did so in response to the anti-Trump complaint filed on Aug. 12, 2019. The Federalist first reported the sudden changes last Friday. While many in the media falsely claimed the ICIG’s stunning admission debunked The Federalist’s report, the admission from the ICIG completely affirmed the reporting on the secretive change to whistleblower rules following the filing of an anti-Trump complaint in August.The ICIG also disclosed for the first time that the anti-Trump complainant filed his complaint...

The intelligence community secretly eliminated a requirement that whistleblowers provide direct, first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings, raising questions about the intelligence community’s behavior regarding the August submission of a whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump. The new complaint document no longer requires potential whistleblowers who wish to have their concerns expedited to Congress to have direct, first-hand knowledge of the alleged wrongdoing that they are reporting. The brand new version of the whistleblower complaint form, which was not made public until after the transcript of Trump’s July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and the complaint addressed...

NEW- BREAKING: GOP Rep. Devin Nunes just told the House chamber that the acting DNI will transmit the whistleblower complaint to Congress at or by 4p today.

Updated at 2:11 p.m. ET President Trump blamed "a political hack job" for reports that a whistleblower has charged he had an improper conversation with a foreign leader. The Washington Post on Friday reported that the conversation in question involves Ukraine. Trump dismissed the reporting as a "ridiculous story" and said he did not know the identity of the whistleblower, "but I hear it's a partisan person." Trump said it was a "totally appropriate conversation. It was actually a beautiful conversation," although he did not specify with whom. Asked if he mentioned former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe...

"I am pleased to inform you that the Honorable Joseph Maguire, current Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will be named Acting Director of National Intelligence, effective August 15th. Admiral Maguire has a long and distinguished.... "....career in the military, retiring from the U.S. Navy in 2010. He commanded at every level, including the Naval Special Warfare Command. He has also served as a National Security Fellow at Harvard University. I have no doubt he will do a great job!"

Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon is resigning from her post amid turnover at the top of the agency, The Office of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gordon, a career intelligence official, was set to ascend to the top post as director of national intelligence following the departure of Dan Coats later this month. But the White House had been weighing removing her in favor of installing a Trump loyalist, despite concerns from Capitol Hill, where Gordon is widely respected. The move further throws into chaos the leadership atop DNI,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick for national intelligence director, Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe, withdrew from consideration Friday after just five days as he faced growing questions about his experience and qualifications. The move underscored the uncertainty over his confirmation prospects. Democrats openly dismissed the Republican congressman as an unqualified partisan and Republicans offered only lukewarm and tentative expressions of support. The announcement will leave the intelligence community without a permanent, Senate-confirmed leader at a time when the U.S. government is grappling with North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, the prospect of war with Iran and the anticipated efforts of Russia...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Tired of all this #Winning yet? – Another month, another sterling jobs report. The private sector beat “expert” expectations yet again by adding 164,000 new jobs during the month of July, finishing the month with an all-time record 157,288,000 Americans gainfully employed. Even more encouraging is the fact that almost 400,000 Americans moved from the part-time jobs that characterized the Obama economy to the good-paying full-time jobs that are the centerpiece of the Trump economy. This truly never, ever gets old. She’s gonna need some new script-writers. – The Chief of Staff...

President Donald Trump says Rep. John Ratcliffe will no longer be nominated as director of national intelligence to replace Dan Coats. "Our great Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe is being treated very unfairly by the LameStream Media," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Rather than going through months of slander and libel, I explained to John how miserable it would be for him and his family to deal with these people John has therefore decided to stay in Congress where he has done such an outstanding job representing the people of Texas, and our Country. I will be announcing my nomination for DNI...

The long knives are coming out for the highly respected Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), President Trump's pick to replace outgoing Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, as Dems signal that they will fight his nomination.Trump announced on Sunday that he had chosen Ratcliffe as his nominee for DNI. I am pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the Director of National Intelligence. A former U.S. Attorney, John will lead and inspire greatness for the Country he loves. Dan Coats, the current Director, will.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July...