The Single Greatest Threat To Our National Security Is Donald Trump

Politics are fickle. The U.S. national security apparatus is not.

The Trump administration’s use of our national security apparatus for political gain poses the single greatest threat to the security of the United States.

As a former officer in the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center during 9/11 and the Iraq War and a former Special Agent with the FBI , I served under two presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, with two vastly different political ideologies. Regardless of their politics, it was always clear to me that both Bush and Clinton had American’s best interest in mind when it came to matters of intelligence gathering.

On my first day at the CIA, I was repeatedly reminded — through memos and in person — that the Hatch Act bars federal employees from participating in various types of political activity. For that reason, I was not to put political paraphernalia on my desk, publicly endorse political candidates, or represent a candidate. Political views, I came to understand, have no place in an intelligence gathering organization. The job of intelligence is not to appease the president or Congress. The job is only to protect Americans.

When I joined the CIA, I was a 21-year-old Southern California liberal sorority girl, who could not see any value in the point of view of the right. When I left the CIA, I was a registered independent who fully understood the urgency and necessity of viewing terrorism and the suppression of terrorism through an unbiased lens. Proper intelligence gathering, literally, depends on the freedom from serving any particular party.

I worked as an operative in the CIA from before September 11 and through the fall of Saddam Hussein. It was a uniquely intense, important, and rapidly-adapting time in intelligence gathering. The knowledge I gained during my time at the CIA led me to form opinions that do not fit in the conventional party platforms. My experience led me to vehemently support the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001; I also supported drone strikes; and I supported and continue to support the PATRIOT Act. Conversely, I do not in any way support the use of torture, and I was strongly opposed to the Iraq War.

Just as I felt the invasion of Iraq was a threat to American safety, Donald Trump ’s handling of our national security apparatus is equally threatening. During his speech shortly after his inauguration at the CIA Headquarters, President Trump showed no support for the CIA. Rather, he displayed his funhouse-warped ego and junior high told-ya-so impulses as he pointed at Democrats as having destroyed his relationship with the CIA. Had he spoken to any employees of the CIA, I wondered? Had he talked to the people who devote their brain power, their innovation, their strength, and their lives to keeping people like me, you and President Trump safe?

Politics also has no place at the FBI. During my time there as a special agent, it was clear to me that our job was to protect the American people, NOT the president. With the firing of Comey, Trump has now single-handedly diminished the credibility and stability of two of the United States’ intelligence gathering organizations. Rather than protecting the American people, Donald Trump is using the FBI to protect himself from an investigation into his connections to Russia.

President Trump recently made references to leaks within the intelligence community, stating that liberals within the community are trying to “take him down.” He questioned the CIA’s capabilities by referencing their report on Iraq and WMDs. Additionally, he asked for the resignation of the National Security Adviser, Mike Flynn whom he had pointed only a month earlier. Now he has fired James Comey. These acts are their own form of terrorism — creating chaos, doubts within the minds of the American public, and confidence boosting to the terrorists worldwide who are watching and assessing the situation in America. With my insider perspective, I can only assure you of two things:

1. The women and men who remain in the intelligence community are carrying on to their best ability, staying the course that was set for them by the previous generations of intelligence agents.

2. Contrary to the president’s opinion they are trying to “take” him down, no one in the CIA or FBI has time for that — there are far more serious and pressing matters at hand.

Rather than finding ways to bolster his ego, his supporters, and his tweet messages, President Trump needs to support the CIA and FBI and their very important work, just as Obama, Bush Jr., Clinton, Bush Sr. and many others before them did.

We cannot win the war on terror without intelligence. This is a fact that remains true whether you’re a Republican, Democrat or other. No American should live within the heightened threat of terrorism that will grow as the current president fails to support the intelligence community.