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Possible CIA Resignations as Trump’s Feud with Spy Agencies Escalates | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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President-elect Donald Trump. Reuters


Washington – After criticism showered the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump , many national Secret Service agents plan their resignation.

A Secret Service official said that a growing number of officers, in their 50’s with over 20 years of experience under their sleeves, have written their resignation letters. There is a sizable concern on the clear contempt harbored towards the President-elect, especially on the scales of Secret Service labor, the official added.

Agents are cross with the incoming administration’s attitude towards the institution, saying that the CIA being subject to criticism is common, but for a U.S. President to take on the body is unprecedented.

They said morale at the CIA and other agencies was already sagging because of disputes with Trump over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered interference in the U.S. election and over leaks about an unsubstantiated dossier compiled by a private security firm suggesting Moscow had compromising information on Trump.

In the last few months, Trump has expressed his willingness to deal with Putin and denigrated the work of the intelligence agencies. This week, the President-elect accused agencies of leaking the dossier’s information to the media, but Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he did not believe intelligence officials were responsible for the leak.

“People shooting at (the CIA) is pretty common. But usually it’s not the president,” one former senior U.S. official said according to Reuters.

Trump’s transition team did not reply to email messages seeking comment.

“I think it’s a recipe for disaster,” said Daniel Benjamin, who served in senior White House and State Department counter-terrorism posts under Democratic presidents. Benjamin, now at Dartmouth College, said there was a “strong chance” people would leave and they have “tremendous value” to the private sector.

Complicating the situation just a week before Republican Trump is sworn in, two of his nominees for top security posts set a different tone at their Senate confirmation hearings, heaping praise on the men and women who work in the secret world of intelligence gathering.

Republican congressman Mike Pompeo, nominee for Central Intelligence Agency director, said on Thursday that he has seen CIA personnel “walk through fire.”

Separately, Trump’s nominee for U.S. defense secretary, James Mattis, told senators that he had a “very, very high degree of confidence” in U.S. intelligence agencies. Mattis also put Russia at the top of a list of threats to U.S. interests.

A top official at one intelligence agency said a growing number of intelligence officers over the age of 50 and with at least 20 years of service, including at least five years overseas, have drafted and in many cases signed but not dated their resignation letters.

“There is great anxiety here about the President-elect’s apparent disdain for the work we do and the dangers we face,” a second senior intelligence official, at another agency, said.

He and others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters and morale at their agencies.