Former CIA head Michael Morell penned a lengthy op-ed in the New York Times Friday endorsing Hillary Clinton, calling the former Secretary of State “prepared, detail-oriented, thoughtful” and “inquisitive” and capable of leading American foreign policy.
But while Morell portrays himself as decidedly non-partisan—a credential he boosts by noting that he’s worked for three decades under both Republican and Democrat administrations—he is far from an unbiased, objective observer.
In fact, for voters concerned about Clinton’s statements following the terrorist attack in Benghazi that left four Americans, including an ambassador, dead, Morell is a familiar face.
Morell testified in front of the House Committee investigating Benghazi, in an effort to explain edits made to the CIA’s “talking points” about Benghazi, placing blame for the attack on an anti-Islam video that the CIA said had inflamed global tensions.
Rep. Trey Gowdy grilled Morell on several points during the hearings and later in the media: “… why you took out the word ‘terrorist’ and put in the word ‘extremist,’ why you sanitized and washed out all the criticism of the State Department, why you changed the word ‘attack’ to ‘demonstration,'” asked Gowdy. “Every single change that Mike Morell made was calculated to cast the administration in a more favorable light.”
Questioned about his endorsement on the Sunday morning news shows, Morell insisted that his story about protests gone horribly awry was still valid, despite Republican criticism. That’s certain to inflame Republican sentiments, especially as Clinton continues to come under fire for her response to the Libyan attack.
Morell’s current job also puts him in close contact with the Clinton campaign. Beacon Global Strategies, his employer, has at least two partners, Philippe Reines and Andrew Shapiro, who worked closely with Clinton, giving her strategic advice on foreign policy. Reines was a senior adviser to Clinton at the State Department, and plays a big role in Huma Abedin’s life, and even shows up in the new documentary about her husband, Weiner. The Daily Beast has referred to Reines as Clinton’s “puppet-master.”
Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz have also received advice from Beacon Global.
This, of course, does not mean that Morell’s assessment of Clinton versus Donald Trump is incorrect—just that his background is less bipartisan than he lets on. Somehow the New York Times found no need to mention Morell’s past associations with the Democratic candidate.