President's Intelligence Advisory Board

The President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) is an advisor to the Executive Office of the President of the United States. According to its self-description, it "...provides advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy of intelligence collection, of analysis and estimates, of counterintelligence, and of other intelligence activities."[1]

The PIAB, through its Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB), also advises the President on the legality of foreign intelligence activities.

History

The agency, originally known as the President's Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities (PBCFIA), was created in January 1956 by the Dwight D. Eisenhower.[2] According to Ira David Wood 3rd, also serving on this very first edition of the Board of Consultants with its 1st Chair, James Killian, were:

John F. Kennedy later renamed it to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) on May 4, 1961.[3] Most recently, the agency was renamed yet again by president George W. Bush to its present form on February 29, 2008.[4] The board exists at the pleasure of the President, who can change its size and portfolio. President Jimmy Carter abolished the PFIAB in 1977 but President Ronald Reagan re-established it later.[5]

Most of the board's work is secret, but one very public investigation involved the loss of U.S. nuclear secrets to China from the Los Alamos National Laboratory during the 1990s.[6]

Intelligence Oversight Board

President Gerald Ford created the IOB following a 1975-76 investigation by the US Congress into domestic spying, assassination operations, and other abuses by intelligence agencies. His executive order doing so went into effect on March 1, 1976.[7] In 1993, the IOB became a committee of the PFIAB, under Executive Order #12863 of President Bill Clinton.

One of the IOB's functions is to examine violations of the laws and directives governing clandestine surveillance. The IOB received quarterly and annual reports from most US intelligence activities.[8] Thirteen cases involving FBI actions between 2002 to 2004 were referred to the IOB for its review.[9]

In an executive order issued on February 29, 2008, President George W. Bush terminated the IOB's authority to oversee the general counsel and inspector general of each U.S. intelligence agency, and erased the requirement that each inspector general file a report with the IOB every three months. The order also removed the IOB's authority to refer a matter to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation, and directed the IOB to notify the president of a problem only if other officials are not already "adequately" addressing that problem.[7]

In August 2013 it was reported that the membership of the IOB had been reduced from 14 to 4 under President Barack Obama, possibly starting in early May at the beginning of the 2013 mass surveillance disclosures by Edward Snowden.[10] The membership had not been increased as of July 2014.[11]

Membership

During the administration of George W. Bush, the PIAB had 16 members selected from among distinguished citizens outside the government who were qualified "on the basis of achievement, experience, independence, and integrity." The members were not paid.[12]

PIAB membership is generally considered public information; for example, the Clinton Administration posted the names of the members on a PFIAB web page.[12]

PFIAB Membership under George W. Bush

In August 2002, Randy Deitering, the executive director of PFIAB, confirmed the membership list released by the White House press office in October 2001:[13]

In 2003 there were indications of spying on members of the board by a foreign intelligence asset.

PIAB Membership under Barack Obama

The entire PIAB membership that served under the administration of George W. Bush resigned as part of an agreed-upon move in the presidential transition of Barack Obama.[14]

Pres. Obama appointed Chuck Hagel, former United States Senator from Nebraska, and current University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren as PIAB co-chairs.[15]

The following other members were appointed to the board under President Obama:[16]

In May 2013, 10 members of the board resigned.[21] The current members of the PIAB are:[1]

Chairpersons

PIAB chairpersons have been:[22]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 PIAB Official Website.
  2. ↑ Executive Orders (1956)
  3. ↑ Executive Orders (1961)
  4. ↑ Executive Orders (2008)
  5. ↑ The Issue Wonk. National Policy Facts and Analysis. Issuewonk.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
  6. ↑ Bill Getrz, "Covert board called crucial to presidents", The Washington Times, June 16, 2008, Page A1
  7. 1 2 Charlie Savage, "President weakens espionage oversight: Board created by Ford loses most of its power", Boston Globe, March 14, 2008
  8. ↑ Electronic Frontier Foundation
  9. ↑ Dan Eggen, "FBI Papers Indicate Intelligence Violations: Secret Surveillance Lacked Oversight", Washington Post, 23 October 2005
  10. ↑ Gerstein, Josh (15 August 2013). "Obama upends intel panel". Politico.
  11. ↑
  12. 1 2 David Corn, "Who's On PFIAB?--A New Bush Secret", The Nation (blog), August 14, 2002, retrieved December 31, 2012
  13. ↑ David Corn, "Who's On PFIAB-A Bush Secret...Or Not? UPDATED" The Nation (blog), August 14, 2002, retrieved March 15, 2008
  14. ↑ Texas oilman Ray Hunt is no longer serving as a presidential adviser on intelligence issues
  15. 1 2 "Remarks by the President Before Meeting with the President's Intelligence Advisory Board Co-Chairmen and Senior Leadership of the Intelligence Community" (Press release). Office of the Press Secretary. 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  16. ↑ "President Obama Announces Members of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board" (Press release). Office of the Press Secretary. 2009-12-23.
  17. 1 2 "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts" (Press release). Office of the Press Secretary. 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
  18. ↑ White House Press Secretary, President Obama Announces Members of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, December 23, 2009
  19. 1 2 "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts" (Press release). Office of the Press Secretary. 2011-09-06. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
  20. ↑ "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts" (Press release). Office of the Press Secretary. 2011-04-27.
  21. 1 2 3
  22. ↑ PFIAB Chairpersons, The White House website, retrieved March 14, 2008

External links

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