CIA to name veteran Middle East case officer as head of covert operations

The CIA has tapped a veteran clandestine case officer who currently serves as a station chief in the Middle East to run its covert operations around the world after the previous nominee was withdrawn, Report informs via Financial Times.

CIA director John Ratcliffe has chosen an intelligence operative who heads a critical station in a Middle East country to be deputy director for operations, according to several people familiar with the decision.

The Financial Times is withholding certain details about the nominee because he is undercover. The people familiar with the choice said the nominee was extremely popular with rank-and-file case officers.

The deputy director of operations (DDO) is one of the most important positions at the CIA because the person runs the agency’s covert programmes around the world and oversees the recruitment of spies in China, Russia and beyond. The position is expected to become even more powerful as Ratcliffe intensifies the agency’s focus on espionage.

In his Senate confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe said the CIA would “collect intelligence, especially human intelligence in every corner of the globe, no matter how dark or difficult”.

In one example, the CIA recently released Chinese-language videos as part of an unprecedented online effort to recruit spies in China.

“Ratcliffe is laser focused on the foreign intelligence collection mission,” said one person familiar with his views.

The choice of a new DDO comes after Ratcliffe asked Ralph Goff, a veteran case officer, to come out of retirement to take the role. But his name was later withdrawn from contention. Some people said he was withdrawn because the White House objected to his pro-Ukraine activities in retirement, but one person stressed that it was unrelated to Ukraine.