A nation must think before it acts.
Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who recused himself from the Russia investigation in April after investigators were asked to look into whether he revealed classified information — has demonstrated over the past year he cannot be counted on to perform his critical duty within the committee. And now, by voting to release a politically motivated, recklessly drafted memo, House Republicans on the committee have demonstrated they are not reliable defenders of our nation’s security.
As former intelligence analysts with the CIA, we were trained from our very first days on the job to understand that intelligence work is not a game. We received training throughout our careers on how to recognize our own personal biases, including how to ensure that our private political views did not color our analysis. When it comes to protecting lives, including the lives and the programs behind our sources and methods, we each became fierce defenders, and we expect our elected representatives on the both congressional intelligence oversight committees to do the same.