Intelligence schools use politicized election interference scandal as case study

Intelligence training programs globally are reportedly using a scandal involving politicized intelligence as a case study for tradecraft classes. According to Barry Zulauf, a former independent ombudsman for the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), spy schools in nations such as Italy, Canada, and Israel are studying how senior officials manipulated intelligence regarding Russian and Chinese election interference based on their political stances toward Donald Trump.

Zulauf authored a 2021 report concluding that the IC massaged intelligence related to foreign meddling. In response, the U.S. intelligence community has integrated new instructions on politicization into Analysis 101, the orientation for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and established a seminar on objectivity for the entire IC.

Additionally, Donald Trump has claimed that American spy agencies suppressed evidence in his Presidential Daily Brief regarding Chinese hacking of voter data. These developments have contributed to ongoing debates regarding the accountability of intelligence agencies to the presidency.