Biden DNI pick says no room for politics in intel agencies

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the intelligence community, Avril Haines, promised Tuesday to “speak truth to power” and keep politics out of intelligence agencies to ensure their work is trusted. Her remarks implied a departure from the Trump administration’s record of pressuring intelligence officials to shape their analysis to the president’s liking.

“When it comes to intelligence, there is simply no place for politics — ever,” she told the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Haines, a former CIA deputy director and former deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, would be the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence, or DNI — a role created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

She was given a mostly positive reception by committee Republicans and Democrats, suggesting likely confirmation by the full Senate. Sen. Mark Rubio of Florida, the committee chairman, seemed to allude to Haines’ confirmation as a sure thing, rattling off her eclectic career experiences and hobbies, and then joking, “I’m not sure what you’re going to do with the rest of your life and this new position.”

Her testimony kicked off a series of confirmation hearings for Biden’s picks to lead the State Department, the Pentagon, and the departments of Homeland Security and Treasury. While most of those nominees are unlikely to be confirmed by the time Biden takes the oath of office at noon Wednesday, some could be in place within days.

In the opening hour of her hearing, questions focused on China as a potential adversary, Iran and prospects for containing its nuclear program, and an issue that has taken on added urgency in the weeks since Haines was nominated, namely, domestic extremist violence. Her answers were received with little sign of opposition from panel members.

Haines said domestic extremism was mainly a matter for the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, but that the intelligence community, which is comprised of 18 intelligence agencies, including the CIA, has a support role in assessing the threat coming from domestic extremists. She said she expects that intelligence agencies would be involved in those discussions, particularly if there are connections between Americans and foreign-based extremist groups. She said she understand that such connections to international groups do exist, although she mentioned none by name.

In introducing Haines to the committee, Dan Coats, who served as director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, called her an “exceptional choice” for the position.

Also testifying Tuesday at his confirmation hearing was Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He would be the first Latino and first immigrant to lead the agency.

Mayorkas faced questions from Sen. Rob Portman, the Ohio Republican who chairs the Homeland Security committee, about an Office of Inspector General…