WASHINGTON – The Trump administration asked the founder of a New York-based private equity firm to lead a review of the intelligence community as President Trump vows to crack down on what he describes as “illegal leaks” of classified information.
A senior White House official said Thursday that Stephen Feinberg of Cerberus Capital Management has been asked to head the review of the various intelligence agencies and make recommendations on improvements to efficiency and coordination between the various intelligence agencies.
The official was not authorized to discuss private personnel matters and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said that Feinberg’s role is not official until he completes an ethics review.
The president has vowed to crack down on leaks and add new oversight over intelligence. His moves have not been well received and look to many like retaliation against intelligence officials who are investigating his campaign aides’ ties to Russia.
Trump on Tuesday tweeted, “The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by “intelligence” like candy. Very un-American!”
On Thursday, he accused Democrats of planting “fake news” stories on Russia in retaliation for their loss in the general election.
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