Monday, October 31, 2016

McMullin in the CIA

Inside Evan McMullin’s 10 years undercover in the CIA
Excerpt: Conservative independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin is rising in the polls and stands a fair chance of stealing the red state of Utah from GOP nominee Donald Trump. So it’s no surprise that pro-Trump Republicans and others are raising questions about his record as an undercover CIA officer. Vetting a former spy for the nation’s highest office isn’t easy, considering the classified nature of his government service. This has left McMullin vulnerable to attacks he cannot publicly address. But I interviewed six former CIA officers who worked with McMullin during his 10 years inside the agency. What emerged was a picture of a young case officer who volunteered for duty in the world’s most dangerous places and had a unique talent for recruiting members of extremist organizations as assets. ... The CIA station chief who supervised McMullin in his first overseas assignment told me that McMullin stood out among all the new case officers because of his insistence on going outside the safe confines of the embassy to meet and develop human- intelligence assets. As a Mormon, McMullin could not indulge in the vices that often help to build such bonds, so he used his piousness and his experience before college as a missionary in Brazil to his advantage.

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