James Bamford: The American Intelligence Community Has No Accountability — So How Can It Keep Us Safe?

The revelation that President Biden had stacks of classified documents stashed in his garage — alongside jugs of anti-freeze and piles of cleaning rags — comes as little surprise.  My work on a new book has been ongoing for several years. “SpyFail,” that examines the collapse of the country’s counterintelligence and security operations. Barack Obama’s and Biden’s disastrous records are unmatched. The National Security Agency’s hyper-secret, highly classified staff was able to bring out more than half of a billion pages of documents that were classified at least top secret. Some of these documents dealt with nuclear weapons. This was the end of it. After the supposed crackdown following the million or so documents removed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, also on Obama and Biden’s watch.  

Yet another insider of the NSA was able to steal nearly all of the agency’s highly dangerous cyberweapons — the tech equivalent of loose nukes — and put them up for auction on the internet 2016 In 2016.

It was the worst cyberattack in world history, yet the NSA didn’t have a clue as to how to stop it.

Instead, it was a young American vacationing in London who found a temporary solution. “kill switch.” The cyber thief gave many clues but the counterintelligence agents never got close to him. As a result, he continued to sell the NSA’s cyberweapons to whatever government or terrorist would pay for them.  

There were also the foreign moles in Obama/Biden. While FBI counterspies searched under every rock for Russian spies, they totally missed two top foreign moles within Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Both were secretly working for the government of the United Arab Emirates with orders to insert themselves into Clinton’s inner-circle, collect intelligence, and pass on pro-UAE influence. And thanks to millions of dollars in dirty money passed to Clinton’s campaign, they were enormously successful. Clinton granted the spies permission to host Bill Clinton and her at the private residence of one of them, as well as another party in Las Vegas, for a $2 million dollar demand. “Had a terrific meeting with my Big Sister H,” The spy used a code to identify Hillary to write his spymaster. “You will be most delighted!”

It is amazing that neither the FBI counterspies, nor the Secret Service were able to detect the spy in the entire campaign. The other was a serial child abuser with multiple arrests. The other spy was a professional con artist who would be eventually charged with embezzling the public of more than $100 millions. The discovery of the two men came about by chance, almost a year after the campaign ended. While one was arrested, the second managed to escape the FBI and seek asylum in Lithuania. 

It is important to ask why Clinton was not investigated for conspiracy. It seems hard to believe that a former secretary of state didn’t know that the two odd characters were foreign agents. They poured millions and even millions of dollars into her campaign coffers six months in a row for endless spin, questions, and face-time with her. 

The US also suffered the worst corporate cyberattacks in US History, including the most severe loss of classified documents, cyber weapon theft, and penetration of a presidential campaign. Sony Pictures was secretly attacked by North Korean intelligence. stealing millions of confidential documents and unreleased films. Yet as the attack was secretly taking place, an oblivious James Clapper, America’s top spymaster, was having dinner in North Korea with the man conducting the operation, North Korea’s top spy master. The operation was discovered only after the destruction of tens of thousands upon dozens of Sony computers all over the globe.

Not only is the FBI deficient in finding foreign spies, it can’t even keep them out of its own counterintelligence force. The bureau has been infiltrated regularly by Russian and Chinese moles for nearly 40 years, leading to the tragic deaths and imprisonment of many clandestine agents. “hard target” countries. Robert Hanssen, FBI Counterintelligence Supervising Agent (1979 – 2001) was an agent. highly paid Russian agent, Moscow was sent a lot of secrets. In February 2001, he was finally captured. He was finally arrested in February 2001, less than a month after he had been captured by Chinese intelligence. allegedly recruited a former CIA officer, Alexander MaHe applied to the FBI, and was soon a highly-paid mole for China. Assigned to the Bureau’s Counterintelligence Division in Hawaii, a critical office focused on China, Ma would simply fly to Shanghai every few months with a briefcase packed full of FBI and CIA secrets. Many identified key US agents, yet it wasn’t until 2020 that Ma was finally arrested. He is currently in custody and awaiting trial. 

Not only did the Obama administration miss dangerous spies, moles and cyber thieves but it also was unwitting that four former agents were missing. went to work for a political party planning a violent Russian-backed coup A friendly European country is about to join NATO. In 2016, a former CIA officer and three former FBI agents were hired by Montenegro’s “Democratic Front” which was conspiring with Russia’s GRU spy agency to overthrow the Montenegrin government. The American agents were to act as the front’s “exfiltration team” If the coup goes sideways, which happened, it was reported. The agents were allowed to return to the US without any embarrassing investigations, arrests or Congressional hearings.

The FBI and intelligence community have been completely unreliable, leading to dangerous and devastating security breaches. After NSA Director Mike Rogers, a 3-star admiral, lost hundreds of millions of top secret documents and most of the agency’s cyberweapons, he paid no price, keeping his stars, job and salary intact.

Former NSA Director Michael Hayden also experienced the same fate. He, after missing the 9/11 terrorist attacks, managed to mislead the world by declaring that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. Instead of being fired, he was promoted to the position of deputy head of Office of Director of National Intelligence.

For allowing the FBI to be infiltrated for more than 40 years by Russian and Chinese spies, no FBI directors were fired. In most corporate offices, such disasters are not tolerated. And until there’s accountability, there will likely be more spies, moles and saboteurs.    

James Bamford is the best-selling author of The Puzzle Palace, Body of Secrets Other books on intelligence. His most recent is SpyFail: Spies, Moles, Saboteurs and the Collapse of America’s Counterintelligence.