CIA Director John Ratcliffe gets a lot of flak for his general invisibility during the Trump administration. Historically, the entire CIA apparatus has held dual missions, one domestic (hidden) and one foreign (opaque).
There is no reasonable person who would hold confidence in the fidelity of the CIA regarding their influence agenda on domestic politics. However, it does seem clear that CIA Director Ratcliffe has been trying to eliminate the mechanisms within the CIA who have operated that influence campaign.
Shifting the assembly of the Presidential Daily Briefing to the ODNI, the real assembly – not the optics therein, is one facet. Taking the National Intelligence Council (ie. the Ciaramella, Gurganus, NIC) intelligence manipulation system out of the CIA and under the ODNI is another visible facet. Additionally, substantively moving CIA operations away from the State Dept., and refocusing the majority of operations back toward the Pentagon is another example.
In the briefing with President Trump on the Iran rescue operations, Director Ratcliffe notes the removal of politics from CIA operations is ongoing. WATCH:
Restructuring a covert institution is a daunting task, made particularly difficult given the cornerstones of the institution were founded as a domestic influence operation. It may well be said the objective is impossible; indeed, there is slight chance of success given the background we all know too well.
That said, at least on the visible face of what can be seen within an agency whose legislative mandate includes the demand that all activity remain hidden from public review, Ratcliffe does seem to be making an earnest effort to restrain the control mechanisms.
