U.S. intelligence, law enforcement candidates face Trump loyalty test
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
U.S. intelligence, law enforcement candidates face Trump loyalty test
Ellen Nakashima, Warren P. Strobel 8-11 minutes 2/8/2025
Candidates for top national security positions in the Trump administration have faced questions that appear designed to determine whether they have embraced the president’s false claims about the outcome of the 2020 election and its aftermath, according to people familiar with cases of such screening.
The questions asked of several current and former officials up for top intelligence agency and law enforcement posts revolved around two events that have become President Donald Trump’s litmus test to distinguish friend from foe: the result of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to the people, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.
These people said that two individuals, both former officials who were being considered for positions within the intelligence community, were asked to give “yes” or “no” responses to the questions: Was Jan. 6 “an inside job?” And was the 2020 presidential election “stolen?”
These individuals, who did not give the desired straight “yes” answers, were not selected. It is not clear whether other factors contributed to the decision.
The questions were posed in direct interviews conducted by personnel hiring for the new administration.
One former official familiar with the questions posed to one of the candidates said: “He was not willing to compromise his integrity by saying things he knew weren’t true. He’s not losing any sleep over his decision.”
Political fealty has been a prerequisite for positions at all levels of the new administration, including for current civil servants seeking new assignments. But former national security and other officials said it is especially important for the nation’s security that intelligence professionals be able to give the president accurate information, even if it does not align with his policy or political preferences.
“It’s normal for a new administration to ask potential political appointees about their political views to assure that they align with the new administration,” said John Bellinger III, who served as the senior counsel for the White House National Security Council in the George W. Bush administration. “And it’s appropriate for a new administration to ask career officials if they are comfortable carrying out the new administration’s policies. But it’s not appropriate to condition jobs, especially in the intelligence and law enforcement community, on partisan political stances. We want career officials to interpret intelligence and enforce the laws in a neutral way without any partisan preference.”
Separately, at least two individuals in FBI field offices outside Washington, who were being interviewed for senior positions, were asked similar questions, said one U.S. official familiar with the incidents. The questions included: Who were the “real patriots” on Jan. 6? Who won the 2020 election? Who is your “real boss?”
These agents have yet to hear the outcome of their interviews, according to the official.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) said in a letter last week to the acting FBI director, Brian Driscoll, that he received “credible information” that a “loyalty test is being implemented in the leadership hiring process, with candidates being asked about the 2020 election and January 6, 2021.”
In a statement to The Washington Post, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said: “It is entirely appropriate that candidates for national security positions in the Trump administration align with President Trump’s agenda to put America First.”
Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed that he won the 2020 election and asserted that thousands of his supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were patriots. Some right-wing voices have suggested the insurrection was an “inside job” organized by the FBI.
The loyalty questions come amid an already tense atmosphere at the bureau and in the intelligence community. In recent days, interim Justice Department leaders appointed by Trump ordered the FBI to hand over a list of the thousands of personnel across the country who worked on Jan. 6. cases, forced out senior FBI leaders and transferred several senior Justice Department officials, and fired prosecutors involved in a special counsel investigation of Trump.
There have been no such actions at the CIA, National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, though their civilian workforces have been offered buyouts. But personnel there are warily watching the actions of CIA Director John Ratcliffe and the statements of director of national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard. Both are political allies of Trump, and Gabbard has at times suggested intelligence officials are part of a disloyal deep state.
Ratcliffe and Gabbard pledged during their confirmation hearings not to politicize their agencies. “As the president’s principal intelligence adviser, I will begin with leading by example, checking my own views at the door, and committing to delivering intelligence that is collected, analyzed, and reported without bias, prejudice or political influence,” Gabbard told the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats asked Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI director, at his Jan. 30 confirmation hearing about plans for agents who had worked on Jan. 6 cases, and he pledged no retribution, even as the removals of senior FBI officials were already underway.
Asked to comment on the loyalty questions, an FBI spokeswoman declined. An FBI official said: “We have no knowledge of that.”
One former senior intelligence official said that attesting to something you know to be untrue — as in the assertion that President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election — would violate the ethos of an intelligence officer. “I don’t understand how somebody could [answer untruthfully] and do their job,” said the former official.
Tags
Who is online
91 visitors
This should be one of the top stories in the news right now. I havent seen it on TV news at all.
Maybe it's not top news because people have lied to the press on multiple occasions, and they are tired of looking like the idiots the mostly are. do you not remember all the lies?
Then why do you watch Fox News ?
Anything saying Dick Durbin is credible or Durbin says is credible I always question. Same with articles from the Washington Post.
Can you provide examples of Fox news not being accurate or true?
As you read the article, you will see that the ones that claim to have been given those questions are anonymous.
I have learned that anonymous and the Washington Post are synonymous to each other and not to be trusted.
[Deleted][✘]
I certainly did see that and you are absolutely correct.
It might be a while...
oh my, have you actually bought into everything the Fox has brought about to spread ?
Are you possibly aware of the $787,000,000.00 Million dollar judgement brought about against Fox ? Three quarters of a BILLION DOLLARS they must pay for spreading the LIE that Trump promoted, that the 2020 election had been stolen from him while losing 63 out of 64 court cases that provided no proof of such a claim. Are you goinfg to tell US All that them admitting as much with out proof, and agreeing to pay away, doesn't say some was Lying, cause over here I'm dying. Half of what they say could be questioned, cause Hell, they LIE even when sitting up in bed, but do explain, that little fine why don't you m, cause ill wait....
well if you say so, but do you have any thoughts on that $787,000,000,00 MILLION dollar judgement that Fox must pay for LYING ?
Yes, because everyone knows Trump would always want free thinking Independent minded people in his administration and government that of castration and Fed employees cut as was his plan from 2025 the one he never heard of, remember
Nobody's perfect.
Probably because it's not true and just another left-wing lie...like the Russia collusion hoax.
HEY, where did all the righties Go ?
It's the time of the day when they kneel down face Mar-A-Lago and pray to Trump