First things first, it is not my intent to outline the entire history of how we got to this place where the intelligence community now acts as the superseding fourth branch of government. Such an effort would be exhausting and only take our discussion away from understanding the current dynamic.
History has provided enough warnings from Dwight D Eisenhower (military aspect), to John F Kennedy (CIA aspect), to Richard Nixon (FBI aspect), to all modern versions of warnings and frustrations from HPSCI Devin Nunes and ODNI Ric Grenell. None of those prior reference points are invalid and all prior documented outlines of historical reference are likely true and accurate.
A historic affirmation is not the point of these outlines, nor is it useful.
Here we pick up the intelligence issues as they manifest after 9/11/01, and highlight how the modern version of the total intelligence apparatus has now metastasized into a fourth branch of government. If we take the modern construct we can highlight how and why the oversight or “check/balance” in the system has become functionally obsolescent.
Factually, the modern intelligence apparatus uses checks and balances in their favor. The checks create silos of proprietary information that works around oversight issues. That’s part of the problem.
Ironically the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created in the aftermath of 9/11/01 expressly to eliminate the silos of information which they felt led to a domestic terrorist attack that could have been prevented. The ODNI was created specifically upon the recommendation of the 9/11 commission.
The intent was to create a central hub of intelligence information, inside the executive branch, where the CIA, NSA, DoD, DoS, and DIA could deposit their unique intelligence products and a repository would be created so that domestic intelligence operations, like the DOJ and FBI could access them when needed to analyze threats to the U.S. This, they hoped, would ensure the obvious flags missed in the 9/11 attacks would not be missed again.
The DNI office created a problem for those who operate in the shadows of proprietary information. You’ll see how it was critical to install a person uniquely skilled in being an idiot, James Clapper, into that willfully blind role while intelligence operatives worked around the office to assemble the Intelligence Branch of government.
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