Himes Vows Oversight of CIA Covert Actions Under Trump, Citing Venezuela Operation
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Nov 11
Himes Vows Oversight of CIA Covert Actions Under Trump, Citing Venezuela Operation
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 11
Summary
Jim Himes, set to chair the House Intelligence Committee, said Democrats will scrutinize the CIA’s “extremely aggressive” covert actions since Donald Trump returned to office.
Himes called review of the agency’s expanded covert-action program under CIA Director John Ratcliffe a core duty, even though such operations are among the hardest for Congress to examine.
His agenda also includes probes into donations from defense and intelligence contractors to Trump construction projects in Washington and whether analysts were pressured to shape reports to fit administration goals.
The push comes as Democrats prepare to use House and Senate majorities to reassert oversight after two years of limited Republican scrutiny of the executive branch.
Trump last year publicly acknowledged authorizing covert action in Venezuela, where the CIA secretly deployed a team before a January raid that captured Nicolás Maduro and a drone strike on a dock.