The Director of National Intelligence has instructed his communications staff not to speak to reporters from The New York Times over an August story about the politicization of intelligence work, The New York Times reports. John Ratcliffe reportedly ordered employees of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to exclude the Times from a briefing on newly declassified documents on FBI surveillance Friday. Citing a person familiar with Ratcliffe’s thinking, the Times now reports that he issued the directive as retaliation for a story that detailed White House pressure to minimize the intelligence community’s findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election in favor of President Donald Trump.
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