you give the CIA entirely to much credit for ruthlessness. That ended with Stansfield Turner’s purge during the Carter administration.
Pretty much, the only President they really worked against (not the entire org but large sections of its management) was Dubya.
Don’t think the CIA is filled with patriotic Cold Warrior-types either. There are plenty of diversity hirings, people interested in the excitment or security of a govt job but who lean liberal (if not far left.)
That’s where those leaks came from, the CIA. Because actually doing intel work was on on the agenda of the upper management at the CIA. Porter Goss was worn down by it and eventually gave up. That’s what happens to those who try to make it as patriotic and self-sacrificing as the military. When it’s in a war zone, it’s a little better but the people in Langley? Naw.
I hope there are a few left that could effect some change.