CIA Domestic Operations Allegations Resurface Amidst "Crossfire Hurricane" Claims

Svetlana Lokhova recently alleged that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) circumvented its statutory prohibition on domestic operations by running "anti-Trump, pro-Hillary" activities offshore through the United Kingdom, subsequently channeling them into the U.S. via the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation. The claims specifically name former CIA Directors John Brennan and Gina Haspel, and academic Stefan Halper, as central figures in these alleged operations.

The CIA's mandate, established by the National Security Act of 1947, explicitly states that the agency "shall have no police, subpoena, law-enforcement powers, or internal security functions" within the United States. This restriction is designed to prevent the CIA from engaging in domestic spying or law enforcement activities, reserving such roles for agencies like the FBI. However, the tweet suggests a sophisticated method of bypassing these limitations.

Lokhova's tweet asserts, "> The CIA can’t operate in the United States. Brennan-Haspel (then head of London station) CIA’s anti-Trump, pro-Hilary operations were run offshore through the UK and then brought back onshore into the US via FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane. Personified by Stefan Halper who worked for both the CIA and MI6, British intelligence." This allegation points to a potential strategy where foreign intelligence operations, allegedly targeting a U.S. political figure, were initiated abroad and then integrated into a domestic FBI inquiry.

The "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation was the FBI's counterintelligence probe into alleged links between the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and Russian officials. This investigation has been a subject of intense scrutiny and political debate, with various reports and reviews examining its origins and conduct. The involvement of figures like John Brennan, who served as CIA Director under President Obama, and Gina Haspel, who was Chief of Station in London during a relevant period before becoming CIA Director, has been a focal point of discussions surrounding intelligence activities related to the 2016 election.

Stefan Halper, an academic with reported ties to intelligence agencies, has been identified in various reports as a confidential human source for the FBI during the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. His contacts with members of the Trump campaign have been widely publicized. Lokhova's claim that Halper "worked for both the CIA and MI6, British intelligence" suggests a complex web of international intelligence involvement in what became a highly contentious domestic political issue. These assertions raise questions about the boundaries between foreign intelligence gathering and domestic political influence.