A newly declassified document is shedding additional light on the turmoil inside America’s intelligence community during President Donald Trump’s first term. According to the memo, a senior National Security Agency official resisted releasing intelligence about foreign targeting of U.S. elections partly because he feared the agency would be accused of being part of the “deep state.”
This content is supported by your donations.
Give today.
The document, written by an NSA analyst following a March 2020 meeting, was declassified on August 12, 2026, and released this week by the White House Government Transparency Task Force.
From Just the News:
The memo states: “DDIR explained that he was concerned that releasing the [report] at this time – in the current political climate, with an acting ODNI who had been tasked (according to DDIR) to ‘clean house’ in the intelligence community, and with an administration that is suspicious of the IC and aggressive in removing anyone who stands in their way – would damage NSA’s credibility. He believed that questions would be asked as to why the NSA was choosing to release this information, most obviously pertinent to the 2016 election, now, more than a year after the election, and that NSA would be accused of releasing it for political purposes.”
“DDIR perceived that ODNI, CIA, and to an extent the FBI had been tarred as hosting or being part of the ‘deep state’, but that NSA thus far had not been associated with the deep state and was trusted; he felt that publishing this report would destroy that trust. He felt that the questioning of NSA that would ensue would have ramifications on the credibility of NSA reporting overall and would result in morale problems among the broader NSA workforce. He repeatedly said that he wanted to protect our ability to be who we are at NSA: nonpartisan, objective, speaking truth to power.”
The recently declassified document is a contemporaneous, written account by an NSA analyst of a meeting that day about whether, and how, to release a long-delayed intelligence report, at a time when President Donald Trump had levied sharp criticism about the intelligence community (IC) and had questioned the security of elections.
The underlying intelligence report had reportedly been proposed for release in December 2018 and addressed foreign targeting of the United States beginning in 2014, including activity connected to the 2016 election. According to the newly released memo, its publication encountered complications because the intelligence could contextually identify members of Congress and because some of the election-related information was considered particularly sensitive.
But the report had already languished for roughly 16 months when the dispute described in the memo occurred. By February 2020, its distribution had reportedly been approved, leaving authorization from NSA leadership as one of the final hurdles. Then-Deputy NSA Director George Barnes reportedly opposed releasing the report in its existing form and discussed alternatives, including a more limited summary.
The document takes on additional significance because it was among the evidence examined by Barry Zulauf, who served as the intelligence community’s analytic ombudsman. His subsequent report documented concerns about politicization surrounding intelligence on foreign election influence.
Zulauf later wrote publicly that intelligence analysts had brought forward complaints about managers suppressing certain conclusions or otherwise politicizing intelligence. He said ombudsmen from three intelligence agencies agreed that analytic standards had been violated and that the problems formed part of a broader pattern.
His 2021 findings also revealed tensions surrounding intelligence about China. Zulauf found that some China analysts appeared hesitant to characterize Chinese actions as election influence or interference because they disagreed with Trump administration policies and did not want their intelligence used to support those policies. He simultaneously documented complaints from Russia analysts who believed management had suppressed intelligence because their conclusions were not well received.
Then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe ultimately disagreed with the intelligence community’s majority assessment concerning China. Ratcliffe argued that similar behavior by Russia and China had been characterized differently and concluded that Beijing sought to influence the 2020 federal elections.
Taken together, these revelations illustrate the danger that arises when intelligence gathering becomes entangled with political considerations. Whether officials feared appearing hostile to President Trump or analysts feared producing intelligence that might strengthen his policies, concerns about political consequences risked affecting how vital information reached America’s leaders.
Intelligence agencies possess extraordinary authority and access to information unavailable to ordinary Americans. That makes impartiality and accountability especially important. Let’s pray that those entrusted with protecting our nation would pursue truth without fear or political favoritism, that wrongdoing within our institutions would be exposed, and that America’s intelligence agencies would faithfully serve the nation rather than partisan interests.
Share your prayers and scriptures for truth and integrity in our intelligence agencies in the comments.
(Excerpt from Just the News. Photo Credit: National Security Agency)
