Pleasure to Burn from Carey Wedler 2025 Feb
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Is the CIA Finally Going Down?
Trump's new director of the quintessential deep state agency has received far less attention than his 'anti-establishment' picks
https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=2642618&post_id=157563888
Pleasure to Burn from Carey Wedler 2025 Feb 20
https://substack.com/@careywedler
https://pleasuretoburn.substack.com
Many Americans rejoiced last week as anti-establishment icons RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard secured cabinet confirmations. This week, many are cheering Kash Patel’s Senate approval. Between their rise to power and the flurry of headlines around Elon Musk’s DOGE, millions of Americans feel hopeful about the country’s apparent new trajectory. Many are celebrating that the deep state is finally going down.
Interestingly, however, there is little conversation about Trump’s pick to head the CIA, a quintessential deep state agency. John Ratcliffe has not received the same hype as Trump’s perceived disruptive appointments. Unlike RFK Jr., Gabbard, and Patel, who built their reputations largely on opposing the established order, Ratcliffe falls much more in line with that establishment.
The Swamp 2.0
Ratcliffe, an attorney, is an alumni of the George W. Bush administration (he may have lied about his accomplishments during his tenure). He was also a partner at a law firm founded by notorious Bush Attorney General John Ashcroft, who shamelessly peddled the Patriot Act when he was in power. Ashcroft even spoke on Ratcliffe’s behalf at the CIA confirmation hearing in January, lending him his “profound support.”
Ratcliffe was a Texas congressman from 2015 to 2020, during which time he voted to reauthorize FISA’s Section 702 warrantless surveillance. He also repeatedly voted to fund gargantuan military spending (this included the ongoing codification of indefinite detention of US citizens established during the Obama years).
He went on to serve as director of national intelligence toward the end of Trump’s first term. During this time, he drew criticism for, among many things, impeding (and possibly lying about) the release of information regarding the Saudi state-sanctioned murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. While he challenged prevailing establishment narratives about Trump and Russia and promoted the covid lab-leak theory after Trump left office, these are the only examples I could find of deviation from the status quo.
More recently, Ratcliffe worked as a senior adviser for a firm called American Global Strategies. AGS, among other services, helps clients “[devise] strategies for navigating United States Government processes, policies and regulations.” They serve clients in “defense, aerospace, automotive, maritime, technology, energy, finance, and private equity”—in other words, some of the most politically entrenched industries.
The firm’s leadership embodies the insidious relationship between government and the private sector. In one example, the CEO worked in the first Trump administration and currently consults for Ballard, a corporate lobbying firm that previously employed Susie Wiles, Trump’s current chief of staff. He is also a member of a military-industrial trade group.
Neocon-approved
Despite much of Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric, Ratcliffe is anything but.
Last year, Ratcliffe criticized the wildly pro-Israel Biden administration for not supporting Israel enough. He also called out Biden for not supporting Ukraine early enough. Further, Ratcliffe highlights largely the same threats the establishment does: Iran, China, and North Korea, to name a few.
Unsurprisingly, former Trump-appointed CIA director Mike Pompeo advocated for Ratfliffe’s nomination. Pompeo is known for his staunch neoconservatism and alleged plan to assassinate Julian Assange while heading the spy agency. “John Ratcliffe is the right person to lead the CIA to gather and share intelligence and protect us from threats...An outstanding selection for CIA,” Pompeo tweeted upon news of the nomination in November.
As one commenter replied, “Oh hell, you like him [...] we’re f*cked.”
This is not exactly the disruptor that so many are celebrating in Kennedy, Gabbard, and Patel (who have their own hypocrisies). Unlike these anti-establishment personalities, Ratcliffe handily won the confirmation vote with 72-26, earning approval from numerous Democrats.
Very little news has come out of the CIA since Trump took office, though there is reportedly a buyout offer intended to help reshape the agency around Trump’s national security priorities. This buyout suggests to the MAGA base that Ratcliffe is on their side and has a plan to challenge the dark forces trying to undermine the president and his crusade. It’s just not clear that the plan and crusade are consistent with dismantling the power and reach of shadowy government agencies that have long evaded accountability.
Shake-up or status quo?
It’s not just Ratcliffe’s track record in Congress, neocon Pompeo’s blessing, or his time at American Global Strategies that cast doubt on his trustworthiness.
During his confirmation hearing for director of national intelligence, he refused to disavow the use of torture. During his CIA hearing, he reaffirmed his support for FISA’s Section 702, which the CIA employs.
In the same hearing, he asserted the CIA needs to be active in the war on drugs and the border crisis, echoing the Trump administration’s aggressive stance on cartels and border security. Indeed, it was reported this week that the CIA is now flying surveillance drones over Mexico (at the apparent request of Mexico’s president, who has cooperated with Trump over tariff threats).
His hardline support for Israel and accompanying saber-rattling about Iran cast further doubt on the likelihood that the new CIA director is a threat to the established order. It also aligns with many of Trump’s appointments and the president himself.
The swamp of the future
Ratcliffe’s appointment also signals a new frontier in governance that aligns with Trump’s partnerships with technocratic oligarchs, who are going all in on military-industrial profiteering.
Per official disclosures, after concluding his stint as Trump’s director of national intelligence, Ratcliffe worked in advisory roles for multiple artificial intelligence companies that contract with the US government. In return, The Intercept reported, he received stock options he promised to sell before taking over the CIA.
The companies include Latent, which is currently contracting with the US Navy, Arctop, a “cognition company” that is currently studying the brain activity of Air Force cadets in training, and Shield AI, which is contracting with the Air Force to “enable swarms of drones and aircraft to operate autonomously without GPS, communications, or a pilot” with a project called Hivemind.
Obviously, the revolving door aspect of Ratcliffe’s work history is nothing new. Democrats and Republicans alike perpetuate the corrupt relationship between private industry and government. Unsurprisingly, The Intercept noted, Democrats did not take issue with Ratcliffe’s public-private shuffle.
He has vowed not to make decisions at the CIA that involve the contractors noted in his disclosures—unless he receives a special ethics waiver. But his broader belief in the role of AI in government on its own is cause for concern. As with the continuance of revolving door dynamics, this is a perpetuation of the agency’s preexisting priority of incorporating artificial intelligence.
Some might protest that Ratcliffe will answer to Gabbard, which will keep him in line. However, she flip-flopped on Section 702 (at least ahead of and during her confirmation hearings). She went from calling Trump “Saudi Arabia’s bitch” and condemning his warmongering to falling in line and excusing his neoconservative-riddled first term. I, for one, am not counting on her integrity to rein in the CIA.
It’s wholly understandable that people feel hopeful at the changing of the guard. While it appears on the surface that a great transformation for the better is occurring, it is vital to stay vigilant and critical. The authoritarian technocracy continues to advance at the same time as restrictions on speech, continued militarism, and business-as-usual corporatism—alongside a neverending onslaught of MAGA sycophants blinding themselves to this reality. |