Trump Wants NY Billionaire to Review Intelligence Agencies

FBI releases Trump files from the '70s
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2017 5:17 AM CST
Updated Feb 16, 2017 6:33 AM CST
NYT : Trump Plans to Bring in Ally for Intelligence Review
President Trump waves to supporters on the steps of Air Force One as he arrives in West Palm Beach, Fla. last week.   (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

President Trump is planning to shake up the intelligence services with the help of a fellow New York billionaire, the New York Times reports, citing administration sources. The officials say Trump wants to bring in Stephen Feinberg, a co-founder of the Cerberus Capital Management hedge fund who currently serves on his economic advisory council, to carry out a review of US intelligence agencies. The Hill reports that chief strategist Stephen Bannon and senior adviser Jared Kushner declined to comment on reports that they have close ties to Feinberg, who is seen as a Trump loyalist capable of doing some "house-cleaning" at the agencies.

The Times' sources say that many in the intelligence community are disturbed by reports that Feinberg, who has no national security experience, may be conducting a review and possibly taking a senior intelligence position. In tweets Wednesday, Trump condemned the "very un-American" leaking of classified information, which he blamed for national security adviser Mike Flynn's resignation. Separately, the FBI released hundreds of pages Wednesday from its 1970s investigation of the Trump Management Co., run by Trump and his father, Fred, for alleged racial discrimination against tenants. The Hill notes that when the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed suit in 1973, Trump, then 27, slammed the government for "such outrageous lies." (More President Trump stories.)

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