Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Public Affairs Office. "DNI Names First Director of IARPA." ODNI News Release No. 1-08. Washington, DC: 9 Jan. 2008. [http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20080109_release.pdf]Materials presented chronologically.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Public Affairs Office. "DNI Names First Director of IARPA." ODNI News Release No. 1-08. Washington, DC: 9 Jan. 2008. [http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20080109_release.pdf]
DNI Mike McConnell announced on 9 January 2008 that Dr. Lisa Porter will be "the first Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).... IARPA sponsors research aimed at game-changing breakthroughs and compliments the mission-specific science-and-technology research already being conducted by intelligence agencies. Porter ... comes to IARPA following service as the NASA Associate Administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.... Dr. Tim Murphy has served as Acting Director of IARPA since June 2007.... Murphy will serve as Deputy Director of IARPA when Porter begins as Director."
Wright, Lawrence. "The Spymaster: Can Mike McConnell Fix America’s Intelligence Community?" The New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2008. [http://www.newyorker.com]
This is a lengthy and wide-ranging article based on the author's multiple interviews with McConnell. He does not answer the question raised in the title.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Public Affairs Office. "DNI Names New Director for Homeland Security and Law Enforcement." ODNI News Release No. 2-08. Washington, DC: 31 Jan. 2008. [http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20080131_release.pdf]
DNI Mike McConnell has "appointed Bart R. Johnson as director for homeland security and law enforcement support and outreach within the DNI’s Office of Policy, Plans, and Requirements.... Prior to joining the ODNI, Johnson served with the New York State Police for 23 years, retiring as a colonel.... He succeeds Michael Tiffany, who now works for the ODNI’s Inspector General."
Devine, Jack. "An Intelligence Reform Reality Check." Washington Post, 18 Feb. 2008, A17. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
In this Op-Ed piece, the former acting DDO finds little to like in the intelligence reform of 2004. "It has been three years since the intelligence community was reorganized with passage of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act in December 2004, and the results are not encouraging. In fact, the leadership issue has become even more muddled.... [T]he 'reform' legislation that grew out of Sept. 11 ... needs to be fully reassessed -- and soon....
"The legislation simply didn't give the DNI the budgetary muscle needed to lead the intelligence community, and it created a troublesome confusion here and abroad regarding precisely who is in charge. Today, the DNI has become what intelligence professionals feared it would: an unnecessary bureaucratic contraption with an amazingly large staff."
McConnell, [John M.] Mike [VADM/USN (Ret.)]. "A Key Gap In Fighting Terrorism: Private Firms Need Liability Protection." Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2008, A21.
In this Op-Ed piece, the DNI argues for passage of the Protect America Act to include retroactive liability protection "for those private-sector firms that helped defend the nation after the Sept. 11 attacks."
MSNBC News. "New White House Order Bolsters Intelligence Chief's Power." 3 Mar. 2008. [http://www.msnbc.com]
According to a senior White House official, a new "executive order splits the watchdog duties of the Intelligence Oversight Board [IOB]," a five-member advisory board of private citizens created in 1976, with DNI Mike McConnell. "Rather than intelligence agencies reporting their activities to the board for review, they will now report them to McConnell." The IOB will make sure the DNI "fulfills these new duties."
Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Public Affairs Office. "Second National Fusion Center Conference Held to Foster Greater Collaboration." Washington, DC: 20 Mar. 2008. [http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20080320_release.pdf]
The second annual National Fusion Center Conference was held 18-20 March 2008 in San Francisco. It was attended by more than 900 federal, state, and local law enforcement and homeland security officials. "Participants discussed how to best incorporate fusion centers at the state level and in major urban areas into national plans to improve the sharing of information related to terrorism.... [T]here are more than 50 operational centers in 46 states."
Pincus, Walter. "Estimates to Undergo More Scrutiny." Washington Post, 26 Mar. 2008, A17. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
At a recent meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis said that the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) "is getting a makeover ... to improve its credibility. The estimates ... are to be subjected to special internal reviews before they are finished, during which the reliability of each source of information will be examined anew."
Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Public Affairs Office. "DNI Names New Director of Public Affairs." ODNI News Release No. 06-08. Washington, DC: 3 Apr. 2008. [http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20080403_release.pdf]
On 31 March 2008, Richard Willing joined the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as its Director of Public Affairs.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Public Affairs Office. "DNI Announces Information Sharing Strategy for Intelligence Community." ODNI News Release No. 07-08. Washington, DC: 4 Apr. 2008. [http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20080404_release.pdf]
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has announced "the first-ever strategy to improve the ability of intelligence professionals to share information.... The document, titled the U.S. Intelligence Community Information Sharing Strategy, complements a related national strategy that President Bush released last year."
Hess, Pamela. "Intelligence Agencies in Turf War." Associated Press, 28 May 2008. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
According to former and current CIA officials, "[t]he Office of the Director of National Intelligence ... is angling for more power over and insight into spy operations worldwide. At stake is the authority of the CIA's legendary station chiefs, who for 60 years have enjoyed a great deal of autonomy in overseas intelligence operations."
Aftergood, Steven. "A New DNI Directive on the National Intelligence Council." Secrecy News, 12 Jun. 2008. [http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy]
Intelligence Community Directive ICD-207, "National Intelligence Council," 9 June 2008, "defines the structure and mission of the National Intelligence Council (NIC)." According to the Directive, "[t]he NIC produces coordinated assessments of the IC’s views on critical national security issues. The NIC's flagship product is the National Intelligence Estimate, which provides the authoritative written judgments of the IC on national security issues for the United States Government."
Text of the Directive is available at: http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/icd/icd-207.pdf.
Aftergood, Steven. "DNI Assigned to Oversee All Security Clearance Policy." Secrecy News, 1 Jul. 2008. [http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy]
Executive Order 13467, issued by President Bush on 30 June 2008 and entitled "Reforming Processes Related to Suitability for Government Employment, Fitness for Contractor Employees, and Eligibility for Access to Classified National Security Information," assigns the Director of National Intelligence responsibility for overseeing "security clearance investigations and related policies on access to classified information for all federal agencies." The DNI is charged with "'developing uniform and consistent policies and procedures' for security clearance investigations and adjudications government-wide."
Warrick, Joby. "Bush Orders Revamping Of Intelligence Gathering: DNI's Authority Boosted, Document Shows." Washington Post, 31 Jul. 2008, A2. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
On 30 July 2008, President Bush issued a revised Executive Order 12333 that seeks to bolster the authority of the Office of the DNI as head of the U.S. intelligence community. According to a White House PowerPoint presentation describing the changes, which was shared with congressional oversight committees and obtained by the Washington Post, the revision "gives the DNI primary authority to issue 'overarching policies and procedures' and to ensure that intelligence collection is coordinated among the 16 agencies. It also conveys greater power to set spending priorities and establish standards for training and tradecraft. In one of the more controversial changes, the new order allows the DNI to formulate policy for engaging with the intelligence agencies and security services of other countries -- a role traditionally held by the CIA. But the new policy stipulates that the CIA would 'coordinate implementation' of those policies."
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