Annie Jacobsen

We need to get rid of the power of the CIA.

And meanwhile, inside the executive office,

The power is being protected and restored.

This is the way of the executive branch.

And it's better to know it, I believe, than to be the ostrich who pretends it doesn't exist.

When the proverbial four letter word hits the fan, you better believe that executive authority comes out.

And that's what you're talking about with the peds.

You know, they can come out of that briefcase or the file whenever they

the president wants.

And you're looking at that right now with what's happening domestically.

And so all of these things entwine and become super interesting.

I hold a view that shares some of that, but also sort of expands a little bit.

Starting with this, many people think of the CIA as the intelligence community, not acknowledging that there are 17 intelligence agencies that we know of.

So I'm assuming there are more.

Just look at NRO, the National Reconnaissance Office, which was a classified office from 1960 to 1993, I believe, maybe 92.

So for 30 some odd years, it existed and no one in the United States of America that didn't hold a top secret SEI clearance knew it even existed.

This was the satellite agency in essence.

And so to your question, how powerful is the intel world?

It's very, very powerful.

It's also important.