The Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (IC IG) Investigations Division investigated the alleged disclosure of classified talking points for the Presidential candidate briefings ahead of the 2016 Presidential elections to NBC News and TIME Magazine by an unknown individual.

Based on our analysis of available information, interviews of individuals tasked with preparation, briefing, and knowledge of the classified talking points, we did not identify any individual who was responsible for the alleged unauthorized disclosures. Therefore, this matter is unsubstantiated.

Document Archive

Alleged Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Information – Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community – Case: INV-17-0002 – 2017 [29 Pages, 9.5MB]

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [9.53 MB]

The post Alleged Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Information – Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community – Case: INV-17-0002 – 2017 first appeared on The Black Vault.

The President’s Daily Brief (PDB), sometimes referred to as the President’s Daily Briefing or the President’s Daily Bulletin, is a top-secret document produced and given each morning to the President of the United States, and is also distributed to a small number of top-level US officials who are approved by the President, and includes highly classified intelligence analysis, information about CIA covert operations and reports from the most sensitive US sources or those shared by allied intelligence agencies. The PDB is also provided to the President-elect of the United States, between election day and inauguration.

In September of 2017, I filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) seeking the following:

“…any new or updated guidelines or for any/all memos regarding the preparation and formatting and creation of the President’s Daily Brief.  Please note that I limit this request to records during Calendar Year 2016 and 2017.”

On March 16, 2018, they sent out the responsive documents.

The records show that their instructions are heavily classified and exempted from release. You can see from the records below, that much of the information is redacted, however, there are some instructions and notes that made it through, and it is very telling how the PDB’s are created for President Donald Trump.

For example, use lots of pictures:

And, “one(ish)” has become a proper page count directive:

And finally, use the least amount of acronyms possible:

Declassified Documents

 Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Memos on Creating Presidential Daily Briefs for Donald Trump [20 Pages, 2.4MB]

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [2.27 MB]

The above release contained quite a bit of “non-responsive” material, which they consider not responsive to my request, so they do not review it for release. I then filed a second FOIA request specifically for the “non-responsive” material previously unreviewed. The below is the result. In large part, they denied it all again, just citing various other FOIA exemptions.

 Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Memos on Creating Presidential Daily Briefs for Donald Trump [26 Pages, 5MB]

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [4.96 MB]

The post Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Memos on Creating Presidential Daily Briefs for Donald Trump first appeared on The Black Vault.

I requested this document back on July 26, 2013. To my surprise, it took until March 21, 2019 to be released, in which I waited nearly 6 years.

The document is undated from what I can tell, but was finally declassified and released in my FOIA Case DF-2013-00163 with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Here is a portion of the introduction to this document:

Until relatively recently, the American public knew little about nor understood the role of the U.S. intelligence in formulating U.S. policies both at home and aboard. The “Great Game,” especially during the Cold War, was a secret history that unfolded wholly or in part beyond the view of the general public. Spies and counterintelligence efforts, clandestine operatives. covert operations, proxy armies, massive technical collection efforts, detailed analysis of the intentions and capabilities of potential enemies, the very work of U.S. intelligence agencies. remained hidden from view. Even the basic structure, organization, and missions of the U.S. Intelligence Community were difficult to discern. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War there has been a torrent of new materials on intelligence issues and the Intelligence Community. There are not only new books and articles appearing almost daily. but a flood of newspaper articles, TV shows. movies and videos. There are dictionaries and encyclopedias devoted to intelligence as well as whole journals and college courses. The Department of State’s staid series Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) has published two volumes devoted to the organization of U.S. intelligence and a retro volume on the coup in Guatemala in 1954 (Operation PBSUCCESS) and the role of U.S. intelligence.  

Document Archive

Protecting the Nation – U.S. Intelligence – From George Washington to George W. Bush (Date Unknown) [481 Pages, 116MB]

The post Protecting the Nation – U.S. Intelligence – From George Washington to George W. Bush (Date Unknown) first appeared on The Black Vault.

The post Office of the Director on National Intelligence (ODNI) Report of Tangible Gifts, 2005 – 2016 first appeared on The Black Vault.