Intel chief

CIA's New "Mayor" Comes From Finance Firm, Not Intelligence World

Brian Bulatao, a private equity investor from Dallas, is slated to become the No. 3 official at the CIA, according to current and former intelligence officials. 

The job has traditionally, but not always, been filled by career intelligence officers. It is not subject to Senate confirmation. 

The position has long been known as "executive director," but CIA Director Mike Pompeo is changing the title to "chief operating officer." The executive director has been called the CIA’s "mayor," responsible for the internal workings of the agency that employs an estimated 20,000 personnel worldwide.

Bulatao is no stranger to Pompeo, the former Kansas congressman who was named director by President Trump. The two were West Point classmates, graduating in 1986, and later business partners, according to officials. Pompeo, first in his class at the academy, graduated from Harvard Law School. Bulatao was an Army Ranger who served as a paratrooper, and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Intel chief

US Senate approves Coats for director of national intelligence

Dan Coats has been confirmed as the new US Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The former senator from Indiana will oversee more than a dozen US intelligence agencies.

In his confirmation hearing on February 28, Coats took a hard line on Russia, defended extensive NSA surveillance, and supported the continued operation of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp for terrorists.

Coats, 73, has been critical of Russia for years, and landed on the list of US politicians barred from the country in March 2014.

During the confirmation hearings, the former senator agreed with the minority Democrats’ claims about Russian hacking of the 2016 US elections, saying it was “publicly known and acknowledged and accepted that Russia definitely did try to influence the campaign.”

His nomination quashed rumors that the Trump administration was looking into abolishing the Office of the DNI as part of a sweeping reform of the nation’s spy agencies.

Intel chief

Transcript: NPR's Interview With CIA Director John Brennan

NPR's national security correspondent Mary Louise Kelly sat down for a 52-minute interview Thursday with CIA Director John Brennan at CIA headquarters in northern Virginia. Kelly asked about Russian interference in the U.S. election, how the CIA views President-elect Donald Trump and the future of Syria. Brennan also shared some of his plans for his post-CIA life. (Hint: He won't be writing a spy thriller).

Intel chief

Poroshenko: New intel chief to give fresh impetus to military intelligence in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has introduced newly appointed chief of the Main Intelligence Department of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine Major-General Vasyl Burba to the department's personnel, the president's press service reported Monday.

"I have no doubt that this appointment will give a fresh impetus to the activity of military intelligence in Ukraine," Poroshenko said during the introduction.

The Ukrainian president noted that military intelligence's performance had significantly improved in the past two years. He also pointed to drastic change in the quality of information provided by intelligence officers, the press service said.

Intel chief

NATO Appoints Its First Intelligence Chief

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has appointed its first intelligence chief, a post designed to help the alliance improve information sharing and counterterrorism coordination.

Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee who has repeatedly criticized NATO for too little focus on countering terrorism, said that the creation of the new post shows the alliance taking steps to react to his criticism.

Officials said Friday that alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenbergis appointing Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven of Germany as assistant secretary-general for intelligence and security.

Intel chief

Putin Names Korobov As New Military Intelligence Chief

President Vladimir Putin has appointed Lieutenant General Igor Korobov to head the Russian military intelligence agency, known as the GRU, following the death of his predecessor in early January.

A spokesman for the Defense Ministry said on February 2 that GRU deputy head Korobov had been promoted by a presidential decree to lead the highly secretive spy agency.