The names of intelligence sources in the field are among the most highly protected information, not just in the US, but in any nation. This information is so widely recognized as critical, both to the lives of the individuals involved, and ability of the nation to collect good intelligence, that names of in-place agents is often the “McGuffin” of books and movies about international intrigue. Whether it’s James Bond, Mission: Impossible, the latest John le Carré novel—or real life—the names of intelligence sources are something that nations have been willing to sacrifice and struggle to protect.
But now, in what would seem one of the most ironic—and hypocritical—turns of the last year, the same Republicans who were once so concerned about “unmasking” that they attempted to turn routine requests into a scandal, are publicly determined to do something genuinely damaging to the nation and dangerous to the people involved—they want to unmask the identity of an intelligence source in the field.
The source in question is the person who apparently provided information to the FBI showing connections between the Trump campaign and Russia. And as the Washington Post demonstrates, Donald Trump wants him.
It’s not clear who this person is. Or whether it’s one person. Or whether they are in the United States, or Russia, or Ukraine, or Cyprus, or Seychelles, or one of the other nations where money and information on Trump’s campaign circulated before the election. But it’s certain that there is at least one person out there, and the FBI has made it plain that revealing that person wouldn’t just endanger the integrity of their investigation. It endangers the ability of the United States to conduct any intelligence operation, as well as the lives of those involved.
“The day that we can’t protect human sources is the day the American people start becoming less safe,” [FBI Director] Wray said. “Human sources in particular who put themselves at great risk to work with us and with our foreign partners have to be able to trust that we’re going to protect their identities and in many cases their lives and the lives of their families.”
But just as Donald Trump was willing to roast American credibility in breaking the Iran agreement, making it obvious no nation can now trust the United States to meet treaty obligations, he’s more than prepared to destroy America’s intelligence operations. In this movie, there’s no doubt about which side is the bad guys.
Though Devin Nunes initial thrusts to uncover the name of the source appeared to cool down after FBI officials held a long session with him, that cool down period appears to be over. Not only is Nunes back in the hunt to pry the name of the source away from the FBI, he’s been joined by Trump, who has painted revealing his sources as fulfillment of his “Obama wiretapped Trump Tower” claims made during the election.
That wiretap has been twisted to surveillance and that surveillance into planing an “infiltrator” from the “Obama FBI.”
The idea that the person involved was an Obama plant has been pushed on the air by Kellyanne Conway, who drove the “Obama did it theme.” Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has pushed the attempt to uncover the source into even more dangerous territory. Calling for not only a revelation of the source, but a purging of the FBI for those disloyal to Trump.
“It’s ridiculous,” Giuliani said. “You guys in the press should have them. I don’t know why the current attorney general and the current director of the FBI want to protect a bunch of renegades that might amount to 20 people at most within the FBI.”
This fight isn’t a small matter over the name of one person. This is an encapsulation of the battle to maintain any remaining integrity in the US intelligence serves and, maybe, in the US.