New in SpyWeek: Subverting House Intel

Plus the Ritter riddle, the Grayzone kerfuffle, Israeli psywar vs US, natsec fretting about a Trump return, and more

Hens and Foxes: Mike Johnson’s appointments of Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Ronny Jackson (R-TX) to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is “like putting Bonnie and Clyde in charge of bank security,” former panel member Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said on CNN this week. The House Speaker reportedly didn’t give HPSCI chair Mike Turner (R-OH) a heads up, much less seek his approval for the nods, which were said to have come at the behest of Donald Trump, whom readers may remember was indicted in Florida last year for essentially stealing classified documents.

Would you trust this man with secrets? Notorious former White House doctor and now Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) has been given the keys to HPSCI

The A.P. summed up the problems with the two nominees, who will have access to highly sensitive information about U.S. and allied intelligence operations in their oversight roles, including details about U.S. and foreign operatives putting their lives on the line for U.S. intelligence.

Perry, a cog in the Stop the Steal caper, “was ordered by a federal judge last year to turn over more than 1,600 texts and emails to FBI agents investigating efforts to keep Trump in office after his 2020 election loss and illegally block the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden,” the A.P. reported.

Former White House physician Jackson, meanwhile, elected to the House in 2020, long ago won notoriety for “his over-the-top pronouncements about Trump's health,” the A.P. noted. He was subsequently nominated by Trump to be V.A. secretary, but had to withdraw “amid allegations of professional misconduct,” the A.P. recounted.