Ric Grenell Gives Snarky Response To Adam Schiff’s Demands To Oversee Intelligence Community Appointments
By Ashe Schow
Richard Grenell, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany who is now the Acting Director of National Intelligence, has responded to Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) April 7 letter demanding Grenell stop reorganizing the Intelligence Community without congressional approval.
Grenell, in a letter obtained by The Daily Wire, begins by pointing out that Schiff ignored the fact that some of the changes Grenell has made have been the historic appointments of women and LGBT individuals to Intelligence Community positions while bemoaning the loss of male officials.
“I must begin by voicing my surprise that your four-page letter said nothing about the historic appointment of the first female Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). Instead, you expressed concerns regarding the retirement of the former male Director,” Grenell wrote. “You erroneously cast judgement on the reason of his departure while ignoring the accomplishments of NCTC’s new leadership, two highly qualified female officers serving as the Acting Director and Acting Deputy Director. Diversity of the IC workforce should always be celebrated, and I am proud that we increased diversity within the [Office of the Director of National Intelligence] ODNI’s senior ranks, to include more women and members of the LGBT community.”
Grenell goes on to reject Schiff’s “suggestions for reforming” the ODNI.
“I must disagree with your proposals to divest the DNI of managerial competence and personnel decision-making authority, and to replace your committee’s mandate for Intelligence Community (IC) oversight with a mandate for IC administration,” Grenell wrote. “Career IC officials have conducted four studies in the last two years calling for reforms at the ODNI, and the career officials are eager to implement the recommendations. It is my duty to listen to these ODNI career employees who have ideas on how to improve the work we do for the American people. Going forward, I encourage you to think of the relationship between your committee and the IC as that between the legislative and executive branches of government, rather than that between a hedge fund and a distressed asset, as your letter suggests.”