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| Trump’s Targeting of Intelligence Agencies Gains a Harder Edge | Trump’s Targeting of Intelligence Agencies Gains a Harder Edge |
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| WASHINGTON — President Trump tried somewhat clumsily last year to revoke the security clearance of the former C.I.A. director who played a role in opening the Russia investigation. He then wanted to release classified documents to prove he was the target of a “witch hunt.” | WASHINGTON — President Trump tried somewhat clumsily last year to revoke the security clearance of the former C.I.A. director who played a role in opening the Russia investigation. He then wanted to release classified documents to prove he was the target of a “witch hunt.” |
| Both attempts petered out, hampered by aides who slow-rolled the president and by Justice Department officials who fought Mr. Trump, warning he was jeopardizing national security. | |
| But this week, Attorney General William P. Barr engineered a new approach. At Mr. Barr’s urging, Mr. Trump granted him new authorities to examine the start of the Russia investigation, demonstrating a new level of sophistication for an old line of attack. Unlike Mr. Trump’s hollow threats and name-calling, Mr. Barr’s examination of how the intelligence community investigated the Trump campaign could offer a more effective blueprint for the president to take aim at his perceived political enemies. | But this week, Attorney General William P. Barr engineered a new approach. At Mr. Barr’s urging, Mr. Trump granted him new authorities to examine the start of the Russia investigation, demonstrating a new level of sophistication for an old line of attack. Unlike Mr. Trump’s hollow threats and name-calling, Mr. Barr’s examination of how the intelligence community investigated the Trump campaign could offer a more effective blueprint for the president to take aim at his perceived political enemies. |
| “The president is not known for the precision, judiciousness or thoughtfulness of his attacks, but he is in attack mode here and we seem to be opening a new front,” said David Kris, the head of the Justice Department’s national security division during the Obama administration. | “The president is not known for the precision, judiciousness or thoughtfulness of his attacks, but he is in attack mode here and we seem to be opening a new front,” said David Kris, the head of the Justice Department’s national security division during the Obama administration. |
| A spokeswoman for the Justice Department and a lawyer for Mr. Trump did not respond to messages seeking comment. Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday that he hoped the attorney general “looks at everything, because there was a hoax that was perpetrated on our country.” | A spokeswoman for the Justice Department and a lawyer for Mr. Trump did not respond to messages seeking comment. Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday that he hoped the attorney general “looks at everything, because there was a hoax that was perpetrated on our country.” |
| Mr. Trump took the highly unusual step on Thursday of granting Mr. Barr the power to declassify the most closely guarded secrets of the C.I.A. and the country’s 15 other intelligence agencies. Mr. Barr had asked for the authority to facilitate his review of the intelligence agencies’ involvement in the early stages of the Russia investigation. | Mr. Trump took the highly unusual step on Thursday of granting Mr. Barr the power to declassify the most closely guarded secrets of the C.I.A. and the country’s 15 other intelligence agencies. Mr. Barr had asked for the authority to facilitate his review of the intelligence agencies’ involvement in the early stages of the Russia investigation. |
| The president delegated it hours after declaring that several officials overseeing the investigation had committed treason, a capital offense. | The president delegated it hours after declaring that several officials overseeing the investigation had committed treason, a capital offense. |
| Mr. Trump’s latest action is a drastic escalation of his yearslong assault on the intelligence community. Since taking office, he has tried to cement the narrative that the Obama administration illegally spied on his campaign, making an apparent attempt to distract from the investigation into his associates’ ties to Russia. | Mr. Trump’s latest action is a drastic escalation of his yearslong assault on the intelligence community. Since taking office, he has tried to cement the narrative that the Obama administration illegally spied on his campaign, making an apparent attempt to distract from the investigation into his associates’ ties to Russia. |
| Now he appears to have in Mr. Barr an aide willing to open an investigation to prove Mr. Trump’s suspicions. | Now he appears to have in Mr. Barr an aide willing to open an investigation to prove Mr. Trump’s suspicions. |
| Mr. Barr has not made his motivation clear. But in three months as attorney general, he has aligned himself with the president’s dim view of the inquiry. He declined to knock down the notion that the Russia investigation was a witch hunt, described investigative efforts into the Trump campaign as “spying” and begun the multiagency review into the roots of the investigation. Mr. Barr decided that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Mr. Trump for obstruction of justice, a decision that the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, declined to make. | Mr. Barr has not made his motivation clear. But in three months as attorney general, he has aligned himself with the president’s dim view of the inquiry. He declined to knock down the notion that the Russia investigation was a witch hunt, described investigative efforts into the Trump campaign as “spying” and begun the multiagency review into the roots of the investigation. Mr. Barr decided that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Mr. Trump for obstruction of justice, a decision that the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, declined to make. |
| Mr. Barr served as a driving force in securing the power to declassify government secrets, and the lead-up to Thursday’s announcement demonstrated an amount of planning that went beyond previous similar forays by Mr. Trump and his aides. In July, when they announced that they planned to take away the security clearance of the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, they had not done the homework to discover he no longer had one. | Mr. Barr served as a driving force in securing the power to declassify government secrets, and the lead-up to Thursday’s announcement demonstrated an amount of planning that went beyond previous similar forays by Mr. Trump and his aides. In July, when they announced that they planned to take away the security clearance of the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, they had not done the homework to discover he no longer had one. |
| Mr. Barr asked for the White House to grant him additional, far-reaching powers for his review, according to two administration officials. The White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, who was an assistant to Mr. Barr during his first stint as attorney general under President George Bush in the early 1990s, oversaw the effort to grant Mr. Barr’s request, the officials said. | Mr. Barr asked for the White House to grant him additional, far-reaching powers for his review, according to two administration officials. The White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, who was an assistant to Mr. Barr during his first stint as attorney general under President George Bush in the early 1990s, oversaw the effort to grant Mr. Barr’s request, the officials said. |
| And though the White House was ready last week to release the memo outlining his new powers, Mr. Barr asked for the White House to wait until he had taken care of outstanding business, including telling the heads of all the relevant intelligence agencies about the coming change. | And though the White House was ready last week to release the memo outlining his new powers, Mr. Barr asked for the White House to wait until he had taken care of outstanding business, including telling the heads of all the relevant intelligence agencies about the coming change. |
| When the White House released the memo on Thursday evening, it landed with authority and a presentation that signaled a concerted effort unlike Mr. Trump’s tweets or stream-of-consciousness comments to reporters. The document was written in legalese and issued as a memorandum on White House letterhead. | When the White House released the memo on Thursday evening, it landed with authority and a presentation that signaled a concerted effort unlike Mr. Trump’s tweets or stream-of-consciousness comments to reporters. The document was written in legalese and issued as a memorandum on White House letterhead. |
| For Democrats, Mr. Barr’s newfound powers served as a sign that Mr. Trump had found a new, and potentially effective, tool in his war on the so-called deep state. | For Democrats, Mr. Barr’s newfound powers served as a sign that Mr. Trump had found a new, and potentially effective, tool in his war on the so-called deep state. |
| “This is a president who will lash out and destroy anything if he believes it will suit his interests,” said Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. “And he now has a capable lieutenant in the attorney general to help him do just that.” | “This is a president who will lash out and destroy anything if he believes it will suit his interests,” said Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. “And he now has a capable lieutenant in the attorney general to help him do just that.” |
| Democrats and some current and former national security officials are concerned over Mr. Barr’s inquiry into the intelligence agencies partly because it upends the relationship between the law enforcement and intelligence communities. | Democrats and some current and former national security officials are concerned over Mr. Barr’s inquiry into the intelligence agencies partly because it upends the relationship between the law enforcement and intelligence communities. |
| After fears grew that the Nixon administration had politicized the intelligence agencies in the 1970s, the Justice Department emerged as a neutral overseer of the intelligence agencies. | After fears grew that the Nixon administration had politicized the intelligence agencies in the 1970s, the Justice Department emerged as a neutral overseer of the intelligence agencies. |
| “The attorney general was supposed to help ensure the intelligence agencies would be respectful of privacy, operate in legal limits and be apolitical as well,” said Mr. Kris, the founder of the Culper Partners consulting firm. But Mr. Trump’s efforts to personalize and politicize law enforcement inverted that order. | “The attorney general was supposed to help ensure the intelligence agencies would be respectful of privacy, operate in legal limits and be apolitical as well,” said Mr. Kris, the founder of the Culper Partners consulting firm. But Mr. Trump’s efforts to personalize and politicize law enforcement inverted that order. |
| By moving forward with the review, Mr. Barr is bolstering the president’s unfounded claims that his campaign had been spied on. | By moving forward with the review, Mr. Barr is bolstering the president’s unfounded claims that his campaign had been spied on. |
| Little more than a month after taking office, Mr. Trump accused Mr. Obama and the F.B.I. on Twitter of illegally wiretapping Trump Tower. The tweets set off a firestorm, and White House officials and the president’s aides scrambled unsuccessfully to prove Mr. Trump’s claims. | Little more than a month after taking office, Mr. Trump accused Mr. Obama and the F.B.I. on Twitter of illegally wiretapping Trump Tower. The tweets set off a firestorm, and White House officials and the president’s aides scrambled unsuccessfully to prove Mr. Trump’s claims. |
| Mr. Trump has also frequently been at odds with the intelligence agencies, drawing a rebuke from his director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, when he stood alongside President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Helsinki last year and dismissed the agencies’ conclusions that Moscow interfered in the election. | Mr. Trump has also frequently been at odds with the intelligence agencies, drawing a rebuke from his director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, when he stood alongside President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Helsinki last year and dismissed the agencies’ conclusions that Moscow interfered in the election. |
| He also prompted harsh criticism from former national security officials, but his efforts to target them were ultimately futile. | He also prompted harsh criticism from former national security officials, but his efforts to target them were ultimately futile. |
| They accelerated in July when the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that the administration was considering revoking the clearances of Mr. Comey, John O. Brennan, the C.I.A. director under President Barack Obama; Michael V. Hayden, who was a C.I.A. director under President George W. Bush; and others. | They accelerated in July when the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that the administration was considering revoking the clearances of Mr. Comey, John O. Brennan, the C.I.A. director under President Barack Obama; Michael V. Hayden, who was a C.I.A. director under President George W. Bush; and others. |
| The White House said a month later that the president was ordering the revocation of Mr. Brennan’s clearance. But the White House never followed through with the complex bureaucratic work it would have taken to strip the clearance, according to a person familiar with the process. | The White House said a month later that the president was ordering the revocation of Mr. Brennan’s clearance. But the White House never followed through with the complex bureaucratic work it would have taken to strip the clearance, according to a person familiar with the process. |
| This year, after Mr. Coats and Gina Haspel, the C.I.A. director, offered assessments of the threat from Iran and North Korea at odds with Mr. Trump’s messaging, he unleashed a barrage of attacks on Twitter, suggesting they go back to school. | This year, after Mr. Coats and Gina Haspel, the C.I.A. director, offered assessments of the threat from Iran and North Korea at odds with Mr. Trump’s messaging, he unleashed a barrage of attacks on Twitter, suggesting they go back to school. |
| Ms. Haspel has been careful to cultivate a good relationship with both Mr. Trump and Mr. Barr, according to officials. But the latest inquiry will test her ability to stay in the good graces of her bosses, and the rank and file. | Ms. Haspel has been careful to cultivate a good relationship with both Mr. Trump and Mr. Barr, according to officials. But the latest inquiry will test her ability to stay in the good graces of her bosses, and the rank and file. |
| Former officials said if Mr. Trump was intent on calling out individual intelligence officers as he has with the F.B.I., Ms. Haspel would face an outcry. “What the leadership should do is say, ‘I am vouching for the information. If there is a problem, the problem is with me,’” said John Sipher, a former C.I.A. officer. | Former officials said if Mr. Trump was intent on calling out individual intelligence officers as he has with the F.B.I., Ms. Haspel would face an outcry. “What the leadership should do is say, ‘I am vouching for the information. If there is a problem, the problem is with me,’” said John Sipher, a former C.I.A. officer. |
| If Ms. Haspel shares the identities of C.I.A. informants outside the agency and the information leaks, he warned, she will lose credibility within the C.I.A. | If Ms. Haspel shares the identities of C.I.A. informants outside the agency and the information leaks, he warned, she will lose credibility within the C.I.A. |
| Mr. Schiff predicted that both Mr. Coats and Ms. Haspel would defend the integrity of their agencies against any attacks by the White House or give up their posts like former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. | Mr. Schiff predicted that both Mr. Coats and Ms. Haspel would defend the integrity of their agencies against any attacks by the White House or give up their posts like former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. |
| “If it gets to a point they are asked to do things that are unlawful or jeopardize the men and women that work within the I.C., they should speak out,” he said, “and, if necessary, follow the example of Secretary Mattis.” | “If it gets to a point they are asked to do things that are unlawful or jeopardize the men and women that work within the I.C., they should speak out,” he said, “and, if necessary, follow the example of Secretary Mattis.” |
| Katie Benner contributed reporting from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York. | Katie Benner contributed reporting from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York. |