Bush Administration Manipulates DNI McConnell As Top Intelligence Lobbyist

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Bush Administration Manipulates DNI McConnell As Top Intelligence Lobbyist

The mission of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is to conduct its duties in a way that will “ensure the integrity of the intelligence system, our technology, our armed forces, and our government’s decision processes.”

But instead of being an independent voice with the best interests of the intelligence community, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell has allowed the Bush administration to put him in the “unusual role of intelligence community lobbyist.”

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McConnell is not the first independent figure the Bush administration has been accused of turning into a mouthpiece. Last year, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) charged that the White House had been using Gen. David Petraeus as a prop to “purely make political statements.”

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http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/01/mcconnell-lobbyist/