Mother of all intel agencies sharply divides team Trump

Washington: There is disagreement within President-elect Donald Trump’s camp about the structure of the top US intelligence agency when he takes office, and it is unclear whether his national security adviser will prevail in advocating a reorganisation, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

At issue is the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which Congress created after the September 11 attacks to better coordinate the efforts of US intelligence agencies to protect the United States.

Mr Trump security adviser Michael Flynn, who as head of the Pentagon’s Defence Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama sometimes clashed with other intelligence agencies, favours restructuring and paring back the ODNI, the sources said.

But one source close to the Mr Trump transition cautioned that the outcome is not certain.

“There is a general consensus that the ODNI is too big and grown too fast. Some around him (Trump) believe this, but whether they plan to address it or how, I just don’t know,” said the source, who like others requested anonymity to discuss the Mr Trump team’s internal deliberations.

Mr Flynn has had a fraught relationship with the ODNI. After complaints over his management style at the Defence Intelligence Agency, he was fired by director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

A senior transition official told Reuters on Thursday that Mr Trump has picked former US senator Dan Coats as his director of national intelligence — a sign Mr Trump does not plan to try to eliminate ODNI.

A US official familiar with Mr Coats’ views suggested he would not move precipitously to overhaul US intelligence agencies. “Any possible reforms to the structure of the intelligence community, he would approach with great caution and responsibility,” the official said.

Relations between Mr Trump and US intelligence agencies are extraordinarily rocky even before he is sworn in on January 20.

Mr Trump was scheduled to be briefed on Friday on an intelligence report that reaches that conclusion. Russia has denied the hacking allegations.

“I think the President-elect is more sceptical of the conclusions that are drawn from the raw data rather than the intelligence in the raw data that’s provided,” Mr Trump spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Mr Trump is working with top advisers to restructure and reduce the size of the ODNI.

That report largely reflects the views of Mr Flynn, said a source familiar with the retired lieutenant general’s thinking who declined to be identified.

Mr Trump spokesman Sean Spicer on Thursday rejected the report. “There is no truth to this idea of restructuring the intelligence community infrastructure,” Mr Spicer said. “All transition activities are for information gathering purposes and all discussions are tentative.”

A broad intelligence reorganisation would require congressional action.