Richard Grenell

A former political lobbyist and Trump’s Ambassador to Germany from 2018 to 2020 who has served several roles in the administration.

Director of National Intelligence (Acting)

Feb. 20, 2020 – May 26, 2020

After firing his previous Acting Director of National Security (for having allowed Congress to be briefed on Russian attempts to interfere with U.S.-elections), Trump did what he does best – replacing another experienced, competent professional with an utterly unqualified loyalist.

Richard Grenell in this case brings his experience as a tough guy on Twitter with a penchant for taking the political stances that he’s paid to have on behalf of foreign nations. Despite serving as Donald Trump’s ambassador to Germany since 2017, Grenell was considered by German politicians to be largely ignorant about Germany and Europe, and was considered by most to be a “vain, narcissistic person who dishes out aggressively, but can barely handle criticism”.

In a subversion of the Senates legal right to confirm nominees of high-profile government positions – such as the head of the U.S. intelligence community – Trump instead installed two directors back-to-back in “acting” capacities (a role to be held for only 210 days but which does not require congressional approval).

Notables

In violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), Grenell failed to disclose over $100,000 in payments from a group funded and managed by the Hungarian government.

Grenell Got $100,000 from a Hungarian Gov’t Funded group but Never Reported It | ProPublica (2.24.20)

In a separate 2016 FARA violation, Grenell acted as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of a Moldovan politician (later deemed by the U.S. government to be ‘significantly corrupt’). Publicly defending him in two major news opinion articles and failing to disclose payments he received from the politician.

Richard Grenell Used to Work for a Foreign Politician the U.S. Accused of Corruption | ProPublica (2.21.20)

Upon becoming acting DNI, Grenell ousted the Deputy Director – a CIA veteran with 30 years’ experience in U.S. intelligence services – replacing him with an unqualified former congressional aide of Devin Nunes