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US President Donald Trump
With Republicans poised to lose control of investigatory panels in the House of Representatives, President Trump is resurrecting a potentially powerful board capable of intimately reviewing intelligence agency conduct on his direct orders.
The White House announced five appointments to the Presidential Intelligence Advisory Board on Tuesday evening, after selecting a chairman and vice chairwoman earlier this year.
The dormant board created by former President Dwight Eisenhower
has no formal powers, but derives significant authority directly from the president, operating as his surrogate to smooth over agency rivalries, investigate misconduct, and evaluate intelligence collection policies.
Experts say Trump could roil the intelligence community by asking his hand-picked panel
to draft reports, for example, on alleged surveillance abuses against his 2016 campaign associates, a disputed charge made by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, who are poised to lose subpoena powers.
"The board can do whatever the hell the president wants it to do, and really it's about what the president tasks it with," said University of Notre Dame professor Michael Desch, co-author of the authoritative 2012 history of the board,
Privileged and Confidential: The Secret History of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.
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