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  • In the aftermath of the 2016 election, differing stories about potential Russian hacking have

  • set the US’s two main intelligence agencies against each other.

  • The Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, briefed US officials that Russian hackers had infiltrated

  • the Democratic National Committee, with the intention to sway the election in favor of

  • Donald Trump.

  • On the other hand, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI has outright denied these reports,

  • saying there is no clear evidence to support them.

  • So, what is going on, why are these two agencies at odds, and what exactly is the difference

  • between them?

  • Well, in a nutshell, the primary difference between the two is scope.

  • The FBI’s jurisdiction covers domestic issues, and operates as a law enforcement agency.

  • The CIA deals primarily with external, foreign intelligence, and is considerably more covert.

  • Not even its budget is publicly reported, and is only known via leaks.

  • What this ultimately means is that the two have radically different goals.

  • The FBI is more likely to arrest domestic offenders, while the CIA is in the business

  • of collecting global intelligence in order to stave off any potential offenses.

  • This sort of dichotomy can even lead to the two butting heads.

  • Various intelligence failures have been blamed on the lack of information sharing between

  • the two agencies.

  • One example from 1979 allegedly saw the FBI attempt to arrest a high-profile fugitive

  • hiding among corrupt officials in the Bahamas.

  • But the CIA was relying on those same corrupt officials to house a different, high-profile

  • fugitive out of Iran, the former Shah.

  • While the two agencies argued about what was more important, protecting the Shah, or arresting

  • a criminal, the criminal got away.

  • This example perfectly illustrates the two agenciespriorities, and why they are at

  • times reticent to trust each other.

  • Similarly, the current Russian hacking scandal is a clear example of the difference in standards.

  • While the FBI has not explicitly said that the CIA’s conclusion is false, it has made

  • it clear that the amount of evidence available would not be enough to convict anyone in a

  • court of law, and thus is not worth disclosing.

  • However, the CIA is not especially interested in demonstrating proof in a court of law,

  • and is more concerned with addressing the allegations with the evidence they do have.

  • In the meantime, president-elect Donald Trump has dismissed the CIA’s claims while both

  • Republicans and Democrats in Congress, are calling for bipartisan support to prevent

  • any potential future hacking or cyberattacks.

  • President Obama has launched a full-scale investigation of the claims, to conclude before

  • he leaves office.

  • But whether or not anything more is discovered will do little to bring the FBI and CIA together.

  • With different perspectives, jurisdictions, and standards, each serves an important role

  • in the intelligence community.

  • Letting a criminal escape from the Bahamas wasn’t the CIA’s first blunder.

  • Some of its biggest mistakes have led to mistaken incarceration, failed coup d’etats, and

  • other embarrassing international situations.

  • So, what have been the CIA’s biggest failures?

  • find out in this video.

  • It was kept as a highly classified secret, mostly because what they were doing was extremely

  • illegal and medically unethical.

  • The most famous aspect of the program was drugging American and Canadian citizens with

  • LSD without their knowledge.

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In the aftermath of the 2016 election, differing stories about potential Russian hacking have

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