Ford School Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence Javed Ali shared his thoughts about the recent shakeup in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in a February 21, 2020 post in The Hill titled “Storm clouds loom as Trump loyalist Grenell becomes acting intelligence chief.”
Ali and co-author Tom Warrick wrote that they are concerned about the trajectory of ODNI and its ability to fulfill its mission. “Politics should remain separate from the craft of intelligence in order to deliver the best results for the president and the nation,” they wrote.
Last week, Vice Admiral Joseph Maguire was asked to resign as the acting director of national intelligence (DNI), after a briefing to Congress about Russia’s efforts to meddle in the upcoming 2020 U.S. presidential election. Additional departures of the deputy DNI and ODNI general counsel are expected.
Javed Ali is a Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence at the Ford School for fall 2019, teaching "National Security Council and Counterterrorism" and co-teaching "Cybersecurity for Future Leaders." A former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, Ali has over 20 years of professional experience in national security and intelligence issues in Washington, D.C., serving in the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. While at the FBI, he also held senior positions on joint duty assignments at the National Intelligence Council, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the National Security Council under the Trump Administration. Ali holds a BA in political science from the University of Michigan, a JD from the University of Detroit School of Law, and an MA in international relations from American University.