The Central Intelligence Agency is shifting resources to focus more on Russia and Iran, CIA Director Gina Haspel says.
Haspel made her remarks in a speech at Auburn University on Thursday, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“Our Russia and Iran investment has been strengthened after years of falling behind our justifiably heavy emphasis on counter-terrorism” in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, she said.
“We still have a lot of work to do on that front, but we’re making good progress.”
The Journal reported that intelligence officials have speculated that the post 9/11 reduction in the CIA’s attention to Russia could have contributed to a failure to anticipate that country’s 2014 intervention in Ukraine and the interference in the 2016 presidential election in the U.S.
The final report by special counsel Robert Mueller, released on Thursday, documented Russian efforts to meddle in the presidential vote.
Meanwhile, the newspaper noted Haspel’s Alabama speech was only the second time she has spoken publicly since becoming CIA director last May.
Asked about the biggest surprise since being named director, Haspel replied: “The change from being undercover to coming out into the open was a bit of an adjustment.”
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