The Trump White House is reportedly considering a proposal for a global, private spy network to counter “’deep state’ enemies” who want to undermine Trump’s presidency, according to a report in The Intercept.
The proposals for the network were reportedly developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince – who is also the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos – as well as retired CIA officer John Maguire and Oliver North, who was heavily involved in the Iran-Contra scandal and was reportedly brought on board to “sell the effort” to the administration.
The spies would be “off the books,” sidestepping official U.S. intelligence agencies and would report directly to CIA Director Mike Pompeo, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials, the Intercept reported.
A former senior U.S. intelligence official with knowledge of the proposals told the Intercept that Pompeo doesn’t trust the “CIA bureaucracy,” so a global spy network is necessary to collect intelligence that is not shared with the intelligence community.
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