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OCTOBER 1, 2020 5:35 PM UPDATED 15 MINUTES AGO

CIA, NSA chiefs opposed release of unverified Russia intelligence to Republican lawmaker: sources

By Jonathan Landay, Mark Hosenball
5 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA and National Security Agency directors opposed U.S. spy chief John Ratcliffe’s decision to declassify and send to a top Republican lawmaker unverified Russian intelligence that may have been fabricated, according to current and former U.S. officials.

The disclosure that CIA Director Gina Haspel and NSA Director Paul Nakasone opposed the material’s release comes after Democrats and former U.S. intelligence officials alleged Ratcliffe made it public for the political purpose of helping President Donald Trump as he pursues a tough re-election fight.

Three U.S. officials and a former U.S. intelligence official said Haspel resisted the material’s release, with two saying she worried that its disclosure could reveal the methods by which it was obtained.

Nakasone, whose agency intercepts worldwide communications, also opposed the materials’ release to Senator Lindsey Graham, said two sources, one of whom acknowledged that the Army general had the same concern as Haspel.

Moreover, a U.S. official said, the material Ratcliffe supplied to Graham in a letter the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman released on Tuesday was “selective” and misrepresented intelligence reporting.

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