[Washington Examiner] On Jan. 20, President-elect Donald Trump will reenter the White House with a once-in-a-generation mandate to reform our bloated federal bureaucracy. No part of Washington needs reform more urgently than the Intelligence Community (IC). Today, the IC is broken. But if Trump wishes to remake the IC, rendering it more effective while getting it out of partisan politics, there’s a way to do so successfully.
First, Trump should implement payback smartly. Trump, who holds grudges, wants to settle scores with the IC after its mistreatment of him during his last term in office. He’s right to feel as he does. In a manner that was unprecedented in American history, some intelligence bosses colluded with Democrats to smear Trump as a Russian pawn. This culminated in the infamous collaboration between IC bigwigs (mostly retired), Democrats, and tech moguls, to suppress discussion of Hunter Biden’s notorious laptop on the eve of the 2020 election.
Now that he’s back in power, Trump will want to punish the 51 former intelligence officers who suggested that Hunter’s laptop was the product of Russian intelligence service agitprop. What would be an appropriate response? Trump could yank the 51 individuals’ security clearances. That would effectively toss them off the lucrative consulting/contractor gravy train that most retired IC bigwigs enjoy. This would make it clear that IC senior officials — the equivalent of military general officers — cannot play partisan politics while remaining affiliated with the IC in any way. This should apply to everyone in the IC, regardless of party.
But Trump is also inheriting an IC that’s been ruled by Democrats for 12 of the past 16 years. And it shows. President Barack Obama’s cadres, who largely ran the White House under Joe Biden, must be purged. They have "their" people in leadership positions throughout our spy agencies. Everybody in the IC knows who they are. Tell every one of them that their services are no longer required. Start fresh, there are plenty of talented, nonpartisan intelligence officers ready to take their places. All this can be done without Congress. It should be done quickly. 
|
