J. Cofer Black, the former CIA counter-terrorism specialist who has retained a vice-president position at Blackwater USA in addition to a chairmenship at his newest company, Total Intelligence Solutions, has joined the presidential campaign team of Mitt Romney as Senior Adviser for counterterrorism and national security issues.
Governor Mitt Romney today announced that Cofer Black, a former top counterterrorism official at the Central Intelligence Agency and State Department, has joined his campaign for President of the United States. Black will serve as Senior Adviser for counterterrorism and national security issues.
I am not one for one for taking positions without any proof, but it would not be out of line to say that Cofer Black could provide a lot more to Mitt Romney than advising him on counter-terrorism and national security issues.
I do not know what their relationship is like and I certainly do not know what, if any, alternative intentions this position could lend to. But one wouldn't be wrong in asking if Black's companies would benefit from a Romney presidency, would his talents in the campaign extend further than a advisor on terrorism?
I suppose he can advise a ton of clients on a purely professional level. Consultants of all types do. But at the least it should be noted the extent of the revolving door and the positions and powers involved with those on the market.
Cofer Black had a long career at the CIA specializing in counter-terrorism. He joined up with Blackwater USA a year after departure from goverment service in an executive position. He also maintained his own consulting company, The Black Group. Recently, he merged this company with two others, one of which is owned by Blackwater founder Erik Prince, to form Total Intelligence Solutions, a kind of mini-commercial-CIA available for Fortune 500 companies for a variety of intelligence and analysis needs.
It is not uncommon for people to hold many different positions in life and capitalize on their experience. Not only that, it's not criminal either. But at the same time one should recognize the experience and positions of those who have entered the exhalted realm of consultants from the corridors of high public service. You add to that the several wells Cofer Black draws water from and you have a situation where a vice-president of a highly connected private security company with almost three decades of sensitive experience at the CIA, who also runs an intense little intelligence company of his own, has taken an official position in a presidential campaign.
Like I said, this could mean nothing at all, likely so, but at the same time I can't help wondering what he personally may get out of a Romney presidency. If there are large contracts down the road for the companies he has his hands in, he certainly has the capacity to take more than an advisory position on national security for the Romney campaign.
This also may lead one to ask, what is the future for players in the private security and intelligence sectors in presidential campaigns? These industries have expanded greatly in the "post-911 world" and with the well greased gears of DC's revolving door and the flood of monies and resources accumulating in this expanding market, will we see more players from this sector entering into advisory roles? Is there anything wrong with this?