Trump Administration Presses for Master Spy List, Facing FBI and CIA Resistance Over Target Names
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 29
Trump Administration Presses for Master Spy List, Facing FBI and CIA Resistance Over Target Names
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 29
Summary
ODNI has intensified demands in recent months for the FBI and CIA to hand over the identities of all foreign espionage targets, including suspected spies and potential recruits, to build a single master list.
FBI and CIA counterintelligence officials have largely refused, leaving the effort mostly unsuccessful as agencies still cannot agree on how such a list would be created, secured or maintained.
For the FBI, the database could expose people it hopes to investigate or arrest; for the CIA, it could reveal potential assets, raising fears that sensitive operations and long-running cases could be fatally compromised.
The dispute also reflects broader mistrust of ODNI after workforce cuts under former director Tulsi Gabbard and with acting director Bill Pulte — a housing official with no intelligence experience — now overseeing the office.