WASHINGTON — A veteran C.I.A. analyst who had led President Biden’s in-person briefings within the opening days of the administration is not doing
WASHINGTON — A veteran C.I.A. analyst who had led President Biden’s in-person briefings within the opening days of the administration is not doing so, intelligence officers stated Saturday.
The duties of the briefer sometimes included coordinating work throughout 18 intelligence companies, in what is named mission integration, and overseeing the meeting of the written intelligence doc delivered to the White Home every day. In a shift from earlier administrations, the job of main the in-person briefing will likely be distinct from the opposite obligations and divided amongst varied folks.
The veteran analyst, Morgan Muir, remains to be set to take over as director of mission integration, a high submit within the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence, succeeding Beth Sanner, who was the lead briefer for President Donald J. Trump. Because the director of mission integration, Mr. Muir will put collectively what is named the President’s Day by day Transient, or P.D.B., from varied studies from throughout the intelligence neighborhood, however he’ll not lead the in-person briefings.
In his new position, Mr. Muir will oversee the company’s efforts to combine the intelligence neighborhood’s actions “from assortment to evaluation, together with the interagency P.D.B. course of,” stated Amanda J. Schoch, the spokeswoman for the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence.
The appointment of Mr. Muir as Mr. Biden’s briefer final month was uncommon as a result of it was his second tour in that job, the one time somebody had returned to the submit underneath a brand new administration. He had served as considered one of George W. Bush’s briefers halfway via his presidency.
The New York Occasions earlier reported that Mr. Muir was set to change into the lead briefer, however on the time intelligence officers stated that the director of nationwide intelligence, Avril D. Haines, was nonetheless figuring out the ultimate format of the briefing periods and that extra briefers would work with Mr. Biden. Officers additionally stated on the time that there had been no remaining choice about whether or not to separate briefing duties from the broader obligations of the director of mission integration.
Some officers within the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence have lengthy pushed to delegate these duties to totally different folks.
However in latest days, Ms. Haines determined to herald a sequence of knowledgeable briefers to guide the periods within the Oval Workplace, Ms. Schoch stated. Ms. Haines continues to take part in these conferences.
On Saturday, BuzzFeed Information reported that in 2013, Mr. Muir, then a senior C.I.A. analyst, led a delegation from the company in tense talks with Senate Intelligence Committee employees members placing collectively what would change into the report on the company’s torture program. The article quoted Daniel J. Jones, one of many lead committee employees members on the time, saying that Mr. Muir had defended the worth of the C.I.A.’s torture program in non-public talks with Senate aides.
Mr. Jones didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
The Senate report issued in 2014, a sweeping indictment of the C.I.A., outlined abuses and torture by the company in interrogating terrorism suspects within the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, assaults and a sample of deceptive Congress and the White Home about it.
Whereas the report stays a sore level with many former senior company officers, who disagree with its conclusions and characterization, a variety of senators have expressed frustration that some high company officers proceed to query the report.
After the publication of the BuzzFeed article, two intelligence officers insisted the criticism of Mr. Muir’s interactions with the Senate committee had nothing to do with the choice to vary how Mr. Biden was being briefed.
Ms. Schoch stated Ms. Haines remained “assured in Morgan’s regular management.”
“Morgan Muir is a extensively revered intelligence officer who has demonstrated the best requirements of integrity and professionalism all through his profession,” Ms. Muir stated.