Rubio doubts threats hearing will happen this year, citing partisan atmosphere

The acting head of the Senate Intelligence Committee raised doubts Tuesday that the panel will hold a public session on global threats facing the U.S. this year, citing increased partisanship over the nation’s intelligence apparatus.

“I’m not sure we’re going to have one, especially after the letters over the last ten days, seeing this sort of heavy politicization of it,” acting Senate Intelligence Chair Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told POLITICO. He was referring to a war of words that erupted between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration and Republicans after the nation’s top counterintelligence official issued a warning about election interference.

“It’s become harder to get to an agreement on a forum that doesn’t turn into a political circus,” Rubio added. “Why would a career professional intelligence official, at any level at this point, want to be dragged into being turned into a political pretzel to further the narrative of one side or the other? You would hope intelligence matters could be above it, but right now it isn’t.”

Rubio’s comments mark the latest wrinkle in what has turned into a months-long saga over holding a Worldwide Threats hearing.

POLITICO first reported in January that intelligence officials were lobbying Capitol Hill to move the annual session — which has traditionally taken place sometime between February and May and featured both public and classified portions — entirely behind closed-doors, out of fear that agency chiefs could contradict President Donald Trump live on television about security threats.

Rubio and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, had been pushing Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and other leaders to appear before the planned August recess.

Earlier this month Ratcliffe — who publicly committed to testifying at a Worldwide Threats session during his confirmation hearing in May — reportedly offered to testify, but limit his remarks to an opening statement before proceeding to a closed setting.

Warner said taking up such an offer “would be completely counter to the traditions and I think the responsibility to tell the American public” about the latest national security threats.

Rubio said there's no hard deadline for pulling the plug on holding the hearing, saying the committee would be “ready to do one if we can pull one off” before the Senate adjourns next week. He suggested the hearing might yet happen in September — an option both sides had hoped to avoid for fear that any news stemming from it could further damage the clandestine community’s reputation.

The Florida Republican said he believes intelligence agency chiefs are “more than willing to appear in a closed setting where they’re able to discuss intelligence more freely.”

However, "in an open setting we’re no longer at a place, unfortunately, where you can count on things not being said in a hearing that couldn’t potentially threaten intelligence and national security,” he told POLITICO.

“We’ll continue to work to have one but it’s gotten harder over the last week,” according to Rubio, citing the statements from Warner and other senior Democrats that criticized an election interference warning from William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

“I saw some statements about him that were actually directed at him personally. It’s just outrageous.”

Warner said he has “a lot of respect” for Evanina and would continue working to convince Ratcliffe to publicly testify.

“This is the only chance the whole year for the American public to hear the status of worldwide threats,” he said. “It would be, again, unprecedented not to do it.”