CIA liaison is first casualty of conflict between intelligence agency and Trump

[wishstar]

5. More excerpts claiming connection with the Nunes/Cohen-Watnick antics

"Some sources considered the removal of the CIA liaison to be an act of retaliation for the attempt to get Cohen-Watnick off the NSC. The episode occurred in mid-March, before Nunes made his allegations.

Other sources pointed to attempts by the former CIA liaison to stop Cohen-Watnick from taking actions which a White House official declined to describe substantively but characterized as appearing to “operationalize” the NSC.

In US national security circles, that term evokes the idea of using the NSC to perform secret or sensitive operations as a backchannel around both Congress, which does not review the NSC, and agencies like the CIA which would be likely to object. The issue arose during the Iran-Contra scandal, when Marine lieutenant colonel Oliver North, an NSC official in Ronald Reagan’s White House, sold Iran weapons to fund anti-communist death squads in Nicaragua against Congress’ express orders.

The former senior intelligence official said Cohen-Watnick had committed “serious protocol violations.” Among them were appearing to take responsibilities for certain covert programs away from the CIA and communicating with lower-level intelligence officials outside of established channels that ensure intelligence chiefs and deputies are aware of White House requests and concerns."

There are much more details in the article