While President Trump's appointment of Richard Grenell as acting director of national intelligence can be criticized for other reasons, it is a remarkable development given that the intelligence community denied employment to gay and lesbian Americans until relatively recently, argues James Kirchick. This post originally appeared in the Washington Post.
Last month, President Trump named Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, acting director of national intelligence. The move immediately sparked criticism as latest example of Trump choosing a political loyalist for a nonpolitical job. But amid the controversy concerning the prudence of the appointment, its historical import has been obscured. For the first time in American history, an openly LGBT person will lead the intelligence community, a remarkable development considering that, until relatively recently, it not only denied employment to gay and lesbian Americans but thoroughly purged them from its ranks.
Trump names Ambassador Richard Grenell acting director of national intelligence
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, will become acting director of national intelligence, a move that puts a staunch Trump ally in charge of the nation's 17 spy agencies, which the president has only tepidly embraced.
News of the announcement was quickly criticized by those who said the job should be held by someone with deep experience in intelligence. Trump named Grenell acting national intelligence director, meaning he would not have to be confirmed by the Senate.
Maguire became acting director the same day that former National Intelligence Director Dan Coats' resignation took effect. It was also the same day that deputy national intelligence director Sue Gordon walked out the door. Democrats denounced the shake-up at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and accused Trump of pushing out two dedicated intelligence professionals.
The director of national intelligence was created in response to the findings of the 9/11 Commission, which concluded that federal agencies failed to share valuable intelligence before the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Grenell will keep his job as ambassador to Germany while serving as director of national intelligence, an administration official confirmed to VOA News. He is also the special envoy for peace negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo.
President Trump confirmed in a tweet Wednesday night that he will install Richard Grenell, the current U.S. ambassador to Germany and a staunch defender of the president, as the acting director of national intelligence.
Why it matters: The role, which was originally vacated by Dan Coats in August 2019, is one of grave responsibility. As acting DNI, Grenell will be charged with overseeing and integrating the U.S. intelligence community and will advise the president and the National Security Council on intelligence matters that concern national security.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday named the current ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, as the director of national intelligence, immediately drawing criticism that the politically outspoken figure is unsuited to such a sensitive position.
While Trump has not criticized Joseph Maguire, who has been acting director of national intelligence since August 2019, he has chosen chosen a vocal and partisan defender to replace the former navy admiral.
Before it became clear that he was going become the acting director of national intelligence, Grenell was itching to get back to Washington and there had been discussions about him joining the Trump campaign in some capacity, the sources said.
The appointment was quickly criticized by a wide range of people who said Grenell has no qualifications or experience to justify the appointment to such a high position. Others suggested the previous acting director of national intelligence, James Maguire, was ousted because Trump was upset with a classified briefing the DNI office gave to the House Intelligence Committee. That briefing reportedly told lawmakers that Russia is trying to interfere in the 2020 elections, in favor of a Trump reelection.
Donald Trump has appointed Richard Grenell to be the new acting director of national intelligence. Mr Grenell, formerly the US ambassador to Germany, is believed to be the first openly gay cabinet member.
Richard Grenell is the former acting director of national intelligence (DNI). He served from February 20, 2020, to May 26, 2020. President Donald Trump (R) appointed Grenell on February 19, 2020, to replace former acting DNI Joseph Maguire.[1]
Maguire is required to leave his acting post by March 12. Grenell, who was confirmed to his current post on a largely party-line vote, will not require another Senate vote to serve as acting director. The Senate confirmation for Grenell to become ambassador was contentious, with Democrats pointing to his past comments about female politicians. He was eventually confirmed by a vote of 56 to 42.
On the same day President Donald Trump met with Republican supporters in Palm Springs he officially named Richard Grenell, a Palm Springs resident, the current U.S. ambassador to Germany, as the acting director of national intelligence.
Richard Grenell, the former United States ambassador to Germany and former acting director of National Intelligence (DNI), has joined Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Politics and Strategy as a senior fellow.Grenell brings a decade of experience in diplomacy and international relations to Carnegie Mellon, where he will engage with students and faculty. He spent eight years as the United States spokesman at the United Nations before assuming the role of U.S. ambassador to Germany. "The offices of the Institute for Politics and Strategy in Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. have a proven track record for convening leaders throughout the world for research, teaching and discussion on some of the most pressing global problems," Grenell said. "It is an honor to join Professor Kiron Skinner and her IPS colleagues to help develop projects concentrating on the new Europe and the global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality."President Donald Trump appointed Grenell as ambassador to Germany, presidential envoy for Kosovo-Serbia and as acting DNI in February 2020. In that role, Grenell oversaw the 17 agencies in the intelligence community and served as the principal advisor to the president and the National Security Council on intelligence matters. During his short tenure, Grenell dramatically reformed the Office of the DNI, moving it toward an agency that coordinates intelligence rather than functioning as a competing body. "Ambassador Ric Grenell's role as acting director of the Office of National Intelligence has given him a unique understanding of the complexities facing the intelligence community and how to address them," said IPS Director and Taube Professor Kiron Skinner, the founder of the Institute for Politics and Strategy. "I am struck by the fact that Ambassador Grenell is especially interested in sharing his insights with our students and faculty as well as learning from them. I look forward to welcoming the ambassador to Carnegie Mellon University." As U.S. ambassador to Germany from May 2018 until June 2020, Grenell pressed Germany to increase its defense budget to meet NATO guidelines and worked to ensure the security of shared intelligence as the nation fielded bids for 5G mobile-internet infrastructure. "Ambassador Grenell joins the Institute for Politics and Strategy at a critical juncture in our nation's history," Skinner said. "Having served a decade at the State Department, representing the United States at the highest levels at the United Nations and later as ambassador to Germany, I could not think of anyone more qualified to help the nation think through 21st century diplomacy."In 2004, Grenell was appointed as an alternate representative to the UN Security Council with full voting rights and privileges.
Trump's announcement that he had settled on Ratcliffe for the top spy job comes just two weeks after he tapped Richard Grenell to serve as acting director. That decision stirred concern because Grenell, a Trump loyalist who has been serving as U.S. ambassador to Germany, has no intelligence experience.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday named Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, to be the next acting director of national intelligence.... The post is a Cabinet-level position -- the Office of the Director of National Intelligence oversees the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies and is the president's principal adviser on intelligence issues. 2ff7e9595c
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