A former U.S. Attorney is sounding the alarm about a decision from the Trump administration that he argues may "fly under the radar" but could heavily impact the intelligence community: the removal of three Democrats from the Private and Civil Liberties Board (PCLOB).
Concretely, Andrew Weissmann, who was an Assistant U.S. Attorney between 1991 and 2002 and the FBI Special Counsel, said in a piece in Just Security the move renders the 5-member oversight border inoperable, with four vacant seats and a single member who can't take any action at the moment.
Weissmann described the PCLOB as an "independent agency whose mission is the oversight of the intelligence community" through a bipartisan board. He said the body is "indispensable and important" for conducting "valuable oversight" as it "asked tough questions (regardless of party) and conducted thorough reviews."
Weissmann went on to say that considering Trump believes the FBI and the overall intelligence community need greater oversight, the decision goes against that premise. Moreover, Trump won't be able to replace all panel members with loyalists, as at least two of them will have to be Democrats.
However, he concluded with a hypothesis: "A more ominous reading of what is afoot, is that now that he is in charge, Trump in fact wants less not more oversight. Accountability was for the Democratic administration, not his. Bottom line is that as of now there is one less independent body of smart, experienced people to root out wrongdoing and abuse."
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