CIA Director John Ratcliffe announced a comprehensive restructuring of the agency, initiated under President Donald Trump’s guidance, during a recent Cabinet meeting. The effort aims to refocus the CIA on its core mission of national security intelligence.
“Mr. President, the CIA is being restructured at your direction to focus on our core mission and to eliminate the political – the well-documented politicization that has taken place in the intelligence community from bad actors in the past to focus on our core mission and to Make America Safe Again,” Ratcliffe said. The reform seeks to address concerns about political influences that have historically affected the agency’s operations.
The announcement reflects a broader commitment to ensuring the intelligence community operates with impartiality. Ratcliffe emphasized the importance of these changes but noted that the classified nature of the CIA’s work limited public disclosure.
Trump acknowledged this constraint, lightheartedly commenting that Ratcliffe might be the only Cabinet member “who’s not allowed to talk about the great job he’s done.”
Advancing National Security Objectives
Ratcliffe outlined the CIA’s recent activities, which include supporting U.S. foreign policy and security goals worldwide.
“At your direction, the CIA has deployed our unique covert action, authorities in various places and continents, to successfully advance your national security and foreign policy priorities, to advance peace, to end wars, to take terrorists off the battlefield, and to keep illicit drugs from coming into this country and harming Americans,” he stated. These efforts, while not fully detailed due to their sensitive nature, are intended to enhance U.S. safety and global stability.
A key achievement highlighted was the CIA’s role in providing intelligence that led to the arrest of Mohammad Sharifullah, an ISIS-K member linked to the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan, which killed 13 U.S. service members and approximately 170 Afghan civilians.
“The CIA provided the intelligence that led to the apprehension of the Abbey Gate bomber, who is now being prosecuted by our great attorney general and providing a measure of justice to those 13 families that suffered as a result of that disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, during the last administration,” Ratcliffe noted.
The agency has also facilitated the release of Americans detained abroad, such as Mark Fogel and Ksenia Karelina, underscoring efforts to protect U.S. citizens.
Promoting Transparency in Intelligence Operations
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, speaking at the same meeting, discussed parallel efforts to address concerns within the broader intelligence community. “I’m grateful to have the privilege of leading the intelligence community towards ending the weaponization.
Politicization of the intelligence community has gone on for far too long,” Gabbard said. She reported actions to curb unauthorized disclosures, including three criminal referrals for leaks of classified information, with 11 additional cases under review, and the revocation of 67 security clearances.
Gabbard also highlighted initiatives to increase transparency, such as declassifying documents related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. These efforts build on Trump’s executive order to declassify files from the FBI’s 2016 Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
“And we continue our extensive investigations around exposing the very serious issues we have related to election integrity, illegal abuses of FISA, Crossfire Hurricane, and others,” she added.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz praised interagency collaboration, noting the capture of terrorists, including the Abbey Gate bomber, as a result of coordinated efforts.
The reforms and actions described aim to strengthen the intelligence community’s effectiveness and public trust. By addressing past challenges and prioritizing accountability, the administration seeks to ensure that intelligence operations serve the nation’s interests without bias.
