General Michael Hayden was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. President Trump is working on reversing the precedents Hayden created while Director.
The CIA under General Michael Hayden set some very disturbing precedents which he failed to address in his book or in his ramblings on CNN. President Trump appears to want to reverse them.
President Trump appears to want to bring back accountability for abuses of power among CIA leadership. Another effort by the President is in protecting the rank and file. These efforts will go a long way in restoring confidence in the CIA rank.
Hayden was an Air Force General and yet for the first time in US military history a senior US Air Force colonel was investigated, indicted and convicted by Italy for a crime of kidnapping that had been authorized at the senior most levels of the CIA and the NSC. The US refused to assert a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), a standard procedure when any military officer is in trouble for even drunken behavior.
According to former CIA agent Sabrina De Sousa, also under General Hayden, another precedent that has direct impact on emboldening the CIA into using senior foreign intelligence surrogates in covert operations – then imposing state secrets to protect them – while sacrificing the rank and file.
The CIA’s Inspector General Helgerson wanted to investigate Milan rendition – Jose Rodriguez (chief of staff for Haspel) said no – and asked Hayden to convene an
Accountability Review Board. The results were highly restricted so only a handful of members of Congress had access to it.
Former CIA Director Hayden appeared to be against his agents in the rank and file.
Unfortunately, the CIA never recovered with John Brennan taking over the CIA in Obama’s second term.
Hayden is also loose with his facts. Former CIA Director went on CSPAN in September 2018 and accused The Gateway Pundit of posting racist remarks in our report on former Army Ranger Alejandro Villanueva who plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was untrue and a malicious smear. The Gateway Pundit sent Hayden an attorney’s letter demanding a retraction.
