director of national intelligence

U.S. intelligence agencies say they likely won’t ever be able to conclude whether COVID-19 spread by animal-to-human transmission or leaked from a lab.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s control of decision-making in Saudi Arabia was cited as evidence he approved the killing Jamal Khashoggi.

“Mr. President-elect, you know that I’ve never shied away from speaking truth to power,” President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, said on Tuesday. “You value the perspective of the intelligence community, and [I know] that you will do so even when what I have to say may be inconvenient or difficult, and I assure you...

President-elect Joe Biden has tapped a former deputy director of the CIA to be director of national intelligence. Here are five things to know about Avril Haines.

The move comes weeks before the presidential election and as President Donald Trump continues to downplay the severity of foreign interference.

President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he has nominated Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, as director of national intelligence.

President Donald Trump on Friday picked Rep. John Ratcliffe again to be the nation’s top intelligence official, just months after abruptly ending an earlier effort to install him amid bipartisan criticism that the Texas Republican was unqualified for the post. Trump’s decision meant that once again the GOP-led Senate would have to decide whether to put the three-term lawmaker...

A review launched by Attorney General William Barr into the origins of the Russia investigation has expanded significantly amid concerns about whether the probe has any legal or factual basis, multiple current and former officials told NBC News. The prosecutor conducting the review, Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham, has expressed his intent to interview a number of current and former...

Here are five facts about John Ratcliffe, a Texas congressman and President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence.

U.S. intelligence agencies believe North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons because “its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival,” Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, told the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday. That view contrasts with comments from President Donald Trump, who in June declared that North Korea was “no longer a...

A civil rights group has sued the U.S. government, saying it needs more information about surveillance of Americans’ phone and financial records to guide the public debate over what will happen when the law that regulates the scrutiny expires next year. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the National Security Agency, the director of national intelligence, the CIA and the...

President Donald Trump’s refusal to publicly condemn Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election until a wall of bipartisan criticism forced a series of White House walk-backs appears to be following a familiar script. Possible pivotal points in his presidency leave his supporters unfazed as Trump breaks norms, forcing his advisers to struggle with the fallout. “I could stand in...

Despite a plethora of cyber threats, the White House decided to eliminate the role of cybersecurity czar from the National Security Council Tuesday, alarming many experts, NBC News reported. While the departments of defense and homeland security will be on top of cyber threats, the federal government has lost the person who can aggregate them for the president, said Megan...

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday he believes victory in Afghanistan is still possible — not necessarily on the battlefield but in facilitating a Taliban reconciliation with the Afghan government. Mattis spoke shortly before arriving in Kabul, where security concerns were so high that reporters traveling with him were not allowed to publish stories until his party had moved...

Attorney General Jeff Sessions pledged on Friday to rein in government leaks that he said undermine American security, taking an aggressive public stand after being called weak on the matter by President Donald Trump.

On “Meet the Press” Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly talked about a recent report regarding Jared Kushner and his dealings with Russia. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Kushner’s actions raise concerns.

President Trump asked two top U.S. intelligence officials in March to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between the Russian government and his campaign team, a former senior intelligence official confirmed to NBC News. According to the official, Trump asked both the director of national intelligence, Daniel Coats, and Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director...

Key members of Congress say they will honor President Donald Trump’s request to investigate his unsubstantiated claim that Barack Obama overstepped his authority as president and had Trump’s telephones tapped during the election campaign. A U.S. official said the FBI has asked the Justice Department to dispute Trump’s allegation, though no such statement has been issued. Obama’s intelligence director also...

President Donald Trump turned to Congress on Sunday for help finding evidence to support his unsubstantiated claim that former President Barack Obama had Trump’s telephones tapped during the election. Obama’s intelligence chief said no such action was ever carried out. Republican leaders of Congress appeared willing to honor the president’s request, but the move has potential risks for the president,...

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan sat with Today Show host Matt Lauer to praise President Donald Trump’s approach to running the country on Tuesday, just hours before he was to play host to Trump’s address to Congress. Trump is “the kind of commander-in-chief I think we need in this country,” Ryan said.