Will U.S. intelligence blow its last chance with Trump?

OPINION:

Now that the Republican convention is over and former President Donald Trump is the GOP nominee, he likely will receive the intelligence briefings traditionally provided to presidential nominees after both parties’ conventions. These briefings are a courtesy, not a requirement, and must be approved by President Biden. Mr. Trump must also agree to accept these briefings.

Typically, two or three intelligence briefings occur between the conventions and Election Day. Mr. Trump’s first briefing as the 2016 presidential nominee was on Aug. 17, 2016. The briefings aim to help prepare presidential nominees on national security in case they win the election. If they occur, vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance and a handful of Mr. Trump’s advisers will also attend the briefings.

The briefings come at a time when many conservatives are demanding major reforms of U.S. intelligence if Mr. Trump wins the 2024 election. This is because of incidents of intelligence agencies and officers meddling in domestic politics and politicizing intelligence to hurt Mr. Trump, his campaigns and his administration.

As a former CIA analyst and staff member with the House Intelligence Committee, I understand the anger at intelligence officers for interfering in two presidential elections, spying on Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign, abusing FISA warrants, leaking intelligence to the media to hurt Trump campaign and administration staff and politicizing intelligence analysis.

One of the worst of these abuses was a fraudulent letter signed by 51 former intelligence officers in October 2020 alleging that a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation. This letter was orchestrated by Biden-Harris campaign aide Antony Blinken, now secretary of state, and former Deputy CIA Director Michael Morell. The letter was cleared for publication by the CIA, and several of its signatories were on CIA contracts. Many reportedly held high-level security clearances.

Because of these violations of intelligence agencies’ mandate to serve the president and stay out of politics, reforms of these agencies appear likely in a second Trump term. Although I believe significant fixes are necessary, intelligence officials might avoid the most painful and disruptive reforms by now ensuring Mr. Trump that if he wins the election, the intelligence community will not repeat the abuses of the first Trump term.

This should start by ensuring Mr. Trump’s intelligence briefings over the next few months are conducted respectfully and responsibly. Unfortunately, this was not the case when Mr. Trump received such briefings before the 2016 election.

There were several press stories before Mr. Trump received his first intelligence briefing as GOP presidential nominee, quoting unnamed intelligence officers who said they would refuse to brief Mr. Trump, saying they didn’t trust him to protect classified information and citing discredited claims that the Trump campaign was colluding with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The late Sen. Harry Reid said at the time that intelligence officials should give Mr. Trump fake intelligence briefings.

This behavior presaged efforts by intelligence officers to undermine Mr. Trump throughout his presidency.

Moreover, although Mr. Trump’s 2016 briefings were classified and conducted privately, several current and former intelligence officers leaked details to the press to discredit him and his advisers.

This behavior by U.S. intelligence officers was a terrible way to start a relationship with a future president who said before his first intelligence briefing that he did not trust intelligence information.

U.S. intelligence leaders must ensure this does not happen again. Intelligence officers must be prepared to accept the will of the people and impartially perform their duties to serve the president. They have no business telling the press they will refuse to brief one party’s presidential nominee.

Also, the details of these briefings must be kept confidential. The best way for intelligence officials to destroy any remaining trust that Mr. Trump has in the intelligence community would be to try again to hurt the former president by leaking details of his intelligence briefings to make him and his staff look bad.

The intelligence briefings must also be useful and meaningful. White House officials will pressure intelligence officials not to brief anything sensitive or to use the briefings to promote Biden-Harris administration policies and to rebut Mr. Trump’s positions on national security issues. In March, Rep. Adam Schiff, California Democrat, called for U.S. intelligence officials to “dumb down” any intelligence briefings they provide to Mr. Trump as GOP presidential nominee.

Allowing any of these things to happen would be a serious mistake. Intelligence briefings over the next few months for Mr. Trump, Mr. Vance and their staff will be an opportunity for intelligence agencies to prove their value and capabilities with objective, politically neutral insightful analysis of our country’s most critical national security issues. These briefings are a chance for intelligence officers to impress Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance about their ability to meet high standards and not to snub the Republican nominees or hit them with political spin.

I don’t know if U.S. intelligence officials and senior officers will take my advice. Liberal politicization of America’s intelligence agencies have become extreme during the Biden-Harris term. Diversity, equity and inclusion ideology has distorted the intelligence workforce and undermined intelligence analysis.

Anonymous intelligence officials have also recently criticized Mr. Trump in the press. A March Politico article cited unnamed current and former intelligence officers who questioned providing intelligence briefings to the former president because they claimed he could not be trusted with classified information and might disclose what he was briefed to foreign leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Senior U.S. intelligence officials leaked to the media this month that they assess Russia wants Mr. Trump to win the 2024 election.

Given the severity of the politicization of intelligence against Mr. Trump since 2016, it might be too late for intelligence officials to do anything to avert deep reforms by a second Trump administration. Mr. Trump may also refuse to accept intelligence briefings before the election. But if there is any possibility of America’s intelligence agencies regaining at least some of Mr. Trump’s confidence, this could start with objective, apolitical and meaningful intelligence briefings of Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance over the next few months.

Will America’s intelligence agencies blow this last chance with Donald Trump?

• Fred Fleitz is vice chair of the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security and editor of “An America First Approach to U.S. National Security,” available from Amazon.com. He previously served as National Security Council chief of staff, a CIA analyst and a House Intelligence Committee staff member.