GOP lawmakers defend CIA director Gina Haspel as Trump considers sacking her

A source familiar with internal discussions over Haspel’s job status told CNN that some officials criticized him for sometimes going to Capitol Hill and briefing members on internal executive branch discussions before the President or Ratcliffe make a final decision.

“She did this without asking the other directors involved what they thought.… It was an attempt to pressure the White House towards a certain outcome that she wanted,” the source said.

Internal struggle for declassification of Russian documents

President believes the documents in question will undermine the intelligence community’s unanimous conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 race to help it win – exposing so-called “deep state” plots against its campaign and its transition during the Obama administration, according to multiple currents. and former officials.

But career CIA and National Security Agency officials, including Haspel, have vigorously opposed the release of certain information from Russia’s interference assessment, arguing that it would seriously damage sources and sources. methods in a way that the intelligence community does not believe can be easily fixed.

Both agencies have also raised concerns about the selection of information to be released and the politicization of their work as they battle Ratcliffe’s recent efforts to fulfill Trump’s promises to declassify thousands of pages of documents.

Ultimately, if Trump wanted these documents declassified, he could do it himself, but a source with first-hand knowledge of the situation told CNN the President and Ratcliffe wanted it on Haspel’s head. “for political reasons”.

Moreover, Haspel’s resistance to declassifying these documents is indicative of his general tendency to operate outside the proper channels, sometimes undermining Ratcliffe and other key leaders in the process, the source said.

“There are other officials at the top of the intelligence community who have fairness in the relevant documents, but you never hear of their objections because these are internal discussions. Haspel is the only one who subverts chain of command, ”the source added.

“Everyone involved wants the best for national security, but how good is it for national security that a president is supposed to keep a CIA director he doesn’t trust and whom he doesn’t trust? The relationship with the president is the entire basis for the effectiveness of a CIA director and has clearly collapsed, ”they added.

A senior administration official echoed the point, telling CNN that trust between the White House and the CIA had “completely collapsed.”

Trip to Capitol Hill irritates Trump allies

Some allies of the president and administration officials saw the move as Haspel’s attempt to shape the narrative around his potential dismissal by hiding in public support from Republican lawmakers.

“She was trying to frame the president, intimidate him into keeping her around, running down the Hill,” the source close to internal discussions on the matter told CNN.

The senior administration official added that they believe Haspel was trying to convince Congress to defend her so Trump wouldn’t fire her, which “didn’t help her case.”

But while multiple sources tell CNN they expect the president to fire Haspel, they also stressed that nothing is set in stone until Trump makes an announcement, which could come in a tweet. .

Whether Haspel should be let go has been the subject of multiple discussions in the White House over the past 48 hours, but whether Trump has made it clear his desire to get rid of her, it remains to be seen whether he will follow.

The president can often be unpredictable when it comes to the timing of staff moves, the source familiar with conversations about Haspel’s possible dismissal told CNN, noting that some administration officials had been caught off guard by the Trump’s tweet firing Esper earlier this week despite the fact that it should happen at some point.

As such, Haspel’s future remains in limbo for now, although a source close to the president told CNN on Thursday that she was on “thin ice,” as has been the case for decades. month.

Besides public displays of support for Haspel by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in recent days, a Republican senator said he privately urged the White House not to fire her.

This GOP lawmaker noted that Haspel had a deep pool of support among Republican senators and told CNN the White House had suggested she was safe.

That said, it is unclear what Trump will do as he refuses to accept his electoral defeat to Joe Biden and attacks those he perceives as disloyal to him.

Besides O’Brien, another person in these West Wing talks who defended Haspel is White House lawyer Pat Cipollone, who tried to dissuade the president from sacking her, according to another senior official from administration.

The source noted that it remains to be seen whether efforts to dissuade the president from sacking Haspel will be successful, saying that in the end the president will do what he wants.

FBI leadership is closely monitoring developments in Haspel’s situation, a senior law enforcement official told CNN, as some at FBI Headquarters believe Haspel’s dismissal would also result in the dismissal of the director of the FBI. FBI, Christopher Wray.

The source said some senior FBI officials feel Trump is not happy with Haspel and Wray for the same reason: a reluctance to use their agencies to make his political auctions.

“We’re not worried at the moment, but if Haspel leaves, then we’ll be worried,” the source said.