Intelligence Community:Avril Haines Breaks Ground as DNI

Avril Haines,51,was sworn in as the seventh Director of National Intelligence, the nation's top intelligence official,by Vice President Kamala Harris on 21 January 2021.Ms.Haines,the first woman to hold the position created in the wake of the 9-11 attacks,had previously served as Deputy Director of the CIA and Deputy National Security Advisor under President Barack Obama,at which time she formed a professional relationship with then-Vice President Joe Biden.* In a statement Ms.Haines released for her swearing-in, she observed that: At this important moment, with all of the extraordinary challenges and opportunities facing our nation, policymakers need access to timely and analytically rigorous intelligence.The IC must never hesitate to speak truth to power and to deliver intelligence driven by facts, not politics.l know it is what the President expects and demands.* One of the challenges facing the US and its allies is Russia.In recent days, President Joe Biden has ordered a broad review of Russia's malign activities,its "reckless and adversarial actions,"as the White House put it,across the globe. These include its hacking of US Government and corporate computer networks through the Solar Wind network management software.The President also desires analysis of the Kremlin's use of the chemical weapon Novichok,a nerve agent, against Putin critic Alexei Navalny,who, having recovered in Germany,was arrested immediately he returned to Russia recently.* President Biden additionally wants an assessment of Russia's alleged bounty on the heads of US troops in Afghanistan, which it reportedly offered to pay to Islamist extremists.Another assessment the President wants is a comprehensive review of domestic terrorism,in light of the Trump-inspired attack on the US Capitol on 6 January.*