CIA analyst involved with briefing Biden shouldn't be trusted after defending torture program, former Senate investigator says

CIA headquarters. — (Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Morgan Muir, the longtime CIA analyst whom The New York Times reported was tasked with delivering President Biden's daily intelligence briefings, played a leading role in the CIA's defense of its torture program and cited information the agency later publicly admitted was inaccurate during a standoff with the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2013, BuzzFeed News reports. The extent of Muir's involvement in the showdown was not previously known, per BuzzFeed.

Daniel Jones, a former Senate investigator and the lead author of the committee's 6,700-page report on the torture program, said he "would not trust" Muir to "convey accurate information," and former Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), an outspoken member of the committee at the time, said Biden "should have serious concerns about entrusting his presidential daily briefing to anyone who may have helped cover up this dark chapter in our nation's history." Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a committee member then and now, didn't specifically address Muir, but told BuzzFeed "the American people deserve transparency about the backgrounds of high-level intelligence officials."

Amanda Schoch, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said Muir is a "widely respected intelligence officer who has demonstrated the highest standards of integrity and professionalism throughout his career." But she added that Muir is not Biden's briefer "as that term is generally understood," and he won't be in the Oval Office. Instead, he'll reportedly be in charge of what's known as "mission integration," meaning he'll coordinate "intelligence collection and analysis across multiple briefings." Read more at BuzzFeed News.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.