"The Trump administration is
considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik
Prince and a retired CIA officer — with assistance from Oliver North,
a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal — to provide CIA Director Mike
Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would
circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several
current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with
the proposals. The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White
House as a means of countering 'deep state' enemies in the intelligence
community seeking to undermine Donald Trump’s presidency.
"The creation of such a program raises the possibility that the effort would be used to create an intelligence apparatus to justify the Trump administration’s political agenda.
"'Pompeo can’t trust the CIA bureaucracy, so we need to create this thing that reports just directly to him,' said a former senior U.S. intelligence official with firsthand knowledge of the proposals, in describing White House discussions. 'It is a direct-action arm, totally off the books,' this person said, meaning the intelligence collected would not be shared with the rest of the CIA or the larger intelligence community. 'The whole point is this is supposed to report to the president and Pompeo directly.'
"North, who appears frequently on Trump’s favorite TV network, Fox News, was enlisted to help sell the effort to the administration. He was the 'ideological leader' brought in to lend credibility, said the former senior intelligence official.
"Some of the individuals involved with the proposals secretly met with major Trump donors asking them to help finance operations before any official contracts were signed."
"The creation of such a program raises the possibility that the effort would be used to create an intelligence apparatus to justify the Trump administration’s political agenda.
"'Pompeo can’t trust the CIA bureaucracy, so we need to create this thing that reports just directly to him,' said a former senior U.S. intelligence official with firsthand knowledge of the proposals, in describing White House discussions. 'It is a direct-action arm, totally off the books,' this person said, meaning the intelligence collected would not be shared with the rest of the CIA or the larger intelligence community. 'The whole point is this is supposed to report to the president and Pompeo directly.'
"North, who appears frequently on Trump’s favorite TV network, Fox News, was enlisted to help sell the effort to the administration. He was the 'ideological leader' brought in to lend credibility, said the former senior intelligence official.
"Some of the individuals involved with the proposals secretly met with major Trump donors asking them to help finance operations before any official contracts were signed."
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