Deleted files, emails add pressure to CENTCOM intelligence probe

Amid an ongoing probe into allegations that senior intelligence officials at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) altered intelligence reports to exaggerate progress in the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS, new evidence emerged last week that those same CENTCOM officials deleted files and emails pertinent to the investigation.

“We have been made aware that both files and emails have been deleted by personnel at CENTCOM, and we expect that the Department of Defense will provide these and all other relevant documents to the committee,” said Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, at a hearing on Thursday.

A whistleblower told the committee about the deleted information, according to a committee staff member who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The New York Times first disclosed in August that the Department of Defense Inspector General was conducting an investigation into CENTCOM intelligence reporting. At least one civilian Defense Intelligence Agency analyst told authorities he had evidence senior CENTCOM officials were improperly altering the conclusions of intelligence assessments prepared for the president and other senior policy makers.

CENTCOM officials said the agency is cooperating with the investigation but denied emails were deleted.

“While it would be inappropriate to discuss the details of that investigation, I can tell you that as a matter of CENTCOM policy, all senior leader emails are kept in storage for record-keeping purposes, so such records cannot be deleted,” said Navy Cmdr. Kyle Raines, a CENTCOM spokesman.

As the Defense Department was conducting its investigation into CENTCOM intelligence reporting, an annual survey of the entire U.S. intelligence community yielded additional allegations about the integrity of CENTCOM’s intelligence reporting on ISIS.

Nunes said the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which coordinates and oversees all U.S. intelligence agencies, briefed the committee on the results of the survey, which indicated more than 40 percent of CENTCOM analysts believe there are problems with the integrity of the intelligence analysis process and its products.

Each year, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence conducts a survey of all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies to determine the integrity, standards, and objectivity of their analysis methods. About 120 CENTCOM analysts responded to the most recent survey, administered between August and October.

A report on the survey issued in December indicated 40 percent of those who responded at CENTCOM answered “yes” to the question: “During the past year, do you believe that anyone attempted to distort or suppress analysis on which you were working in the face of persuasive evidence?”

“To me, it seems like 40 percent of analysts who are concerned at CENTCOM—that’s just something that can’t be ignored,” Nunes said.

Testifying before the committee, Defense Intelligence Agency director Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart admitted 40 percent was an unusually high number. He told the committee that while it would be favorable for all to “get closure on exactly the extent of this allegation,” he cannot control the pace of the ongoing investigation. But while it proceeds, intelligence officials will continue to look into ways of improving the process of producing assessments, he said.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence chose not to investigate the concerns raised by CENTCOM analysts in the survey because the inspector general had already launched an investigation, according to a report in The Daily Beast.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.