CIA review faults leaders for rushing Russia 2016 election interference probe

A newly declassified CIA report is raising fresh questions about how the U.S. intelligence community assessed Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election

The internal review, ordered by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, criticizes the agency's tradecraft and decision making, but does not dispute the core finding that Russia sought to help Donald Trump

According to the eight-page review, the 2017 intelligence community assessment was rushed and unusually influenced by top officials, especially then-CIA Director John Brennan

The report says Brennan backed, including the unverified Steele dossier, despite internal warnings it could damage the report's credibility

A December 2016 email from the Deputy Director to Brennan even called it a risk to the credibility of the entire paper

The review also says one of the ICA's most sensitive conclusions that Russia wanted Trump

to win relied too heavily on a single intelligence source. The CIA review found that ysts labeled Russia preference for Trump as a high judgment despite relying on a single intelligence source This falls short of the agency usual

standards, which call for multiple corroborating sources before assigning such a high level of

certainty. Still, the report affirms that Russia aimed to undermine faith in U.S. democracy and

discredit Hillary Clinton. Ratcliffe called the assessment process politically charged and pledged

to protect ysts from outside influence going forward. John Brennan and James Comey, both criticized in the review, did not respond publicly

But former officials defended the original report's core conclusions, even while acknowledging the process could have been stronger

Beth Saner, who helped oversee the 2016 assessment, said including the Steele dossier was a poison pill that weakened the ICA's perceived integrity

Ratcliffe posted on X that Americans can now see how intelligence leaders

manipulated intelligence and silenced career professionals, all to get Trump. For more unbiased updates, download the Straight Arrow News app or go to san.com