The Navy's intelligence boss and his deputy have been without a security clearance for more than two years. Now a lawmaker on the Senate Intelligence Committee is calling foul, saying it's unfair for senior leaders to keep their jobs while rank-and-file intelligence personnel are removed routinely for losing their access to secrets.
Vice Adm. Ted "Twig" Branch, director of naval intelligence, and Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, director of the Information Dominance office, have been hamstrung since November 2013, when their high-level clearances were suspended amid an investigation into their ties to "Fat" Leonard Francis, the Malaysian contractor at the center of the largest bribery scandals in Navy history.
Branch, who has less access to secrets than an ensign, has retained his job heading the Navy's intelligence gathering and assessment, despite his inability to see much of the work they produce. Loveless, a career intelligence officer, was transferred after the suspension to be the corporate director of Information Dominance.
"I am concerned about the impact that the admirals' continued presence in these roles while lacking a clearance might have on the Navy's operational effectiveness," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., wrote in a Thursday letter to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. "Moreover, I see this issue as inconsistent with the broader intelligence community practices that require rank-and-file intelligence officers to maintain security clearances to perform their jobs."
Warner, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, asked Mabus to explain the impact this dilemma is having on the intel community and what the service is doing to resolve it. Some intelligence sources have told Navy Times that this limbo has hamstrung the Navy intel community and they feel they don't have a seat at the table with top officials like the director of national intelligence.
The issue has regained the spotlight after a Washington Post article noting that the intel leaders had gone over 800 days without access to government secrets.
The Justice Department is looking into whether Branch took a gift from Francis or anyone associated with Glenn Defense Marine Asia during his time in command of the carrier Nimitz, Navy sources said. The officers' clearances were initially believed to be temporary, until DOJ cleared the officers, brought charges or referred ethical violations to the Navy.
Branch, a career F/A-18 pilot known by his handle "Twig," led the carrier Nimitz from 2004 to 2007, including a Western Pacific deployment with port calls in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Guam; this deployment was the basis for the TV miniseries "Carrier." Since his clearance was pulled, Branch has focused on raising awareness about cyberthreats and steering money toward cybersecurity needs.
In September, the Navy nominated Rear Adm. Elizabeth Train, who is serving as Branch's stand-in at classified briefings, to be the new director of naval intelligence. But so far the nomination has been stymied and it is unclear when or even if she will have become director of naval intelligence.
Branch will hit his third year as the director of naval intelligence in July, making it more likely that he would be able to retire with the larger pension afforded to a three-star. But a senior Navy source insisted to The Post that Branch's retirement grade has no bearing on the decision to retain him in the job.
David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.
