Intelligence

Who’s Who in Defense: Avril D. Haines, Director of National Intelligence

Director of National Intelligence (DNI)

Avril D. Haines

 

The nation’s top intelligence official—the DNI — is the designated leader of the U. S. Intelligence Community (IC), 18 agencies and organizations that include the CIA, the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office and the Office of DNI. The DNI was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A cabinet-level position, the DNI directs the National Intelligence Program budget and is the principal advisor to the president, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council for intelligence matters related to national security.

Stated Priorities

• Ensure that any intelligence work is free of political influence.
• Restore trust in America’s vast intelligence network.
• Bring analytic, long-term perspectives to intelligence briefings with the president.
• Support law enforcement and security agencies in any domestic threat involving U.S. groups potentially tied to foreign extremists.
• Bolster cyber defenses and counter China, which she sees as a potential partner on climate change and an adversary when it comes to stealing U.S. intellectual property and technology.
• Delve into the SolarWinds cyber breach. The cyber intrusion, tentatively linked to Russian operatives, was detected by a private cybersecurity company rather than by the U.S. government.
• Pledges to comply with the National Defense Authorization Act (FY20), which requires the IC to share the report identifying individual(s) responsible for the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident/journalist.
• Does not envision America re-joining the Iran nuclear agreement in the near future.

Policy Quote

• “To safeguard the integrity of our intelligence community, the DNI must insist that when it comes to intelligence there is simply no place for politics—ever.” – Confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Areas of Expertise

• Considered diplomatic in her dealings, and acknowledged as a consummate professional, Haines’ diverse background in the IC is expected to serve her well in her new position.
• Her experience within the CIA and the White House has placed her at the intersection of policy and politics. She helped codify the drone strike guidelines used by the Obama Administration to target suspected terrorists in Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan.
• Broad base of contacts with foreign leadership.

Political Career

• Over the past two decades Haines has worked in all three branches of government, in and outside of the IC, serving as:
  • Assistant to the president and principal deputy national security advisor, (2015-2017).
  • Deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, (2013-2015).
  • Deputy chief counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, (2007), chaired by then-Senator Joe Biden.
  • National Security Council legal advisor in the Obama administration, (2010).
  • Between 2001 and 2006, Haines worked in the Office of the Legal Adviser, State Department; Law clerk of U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit (Cincinnati, OH); Legal officer at the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

Professional/Academic Career

• After leaving the Obama administration, Haines worked in the private sector consulting for companies such as the Denver-based national security contractor Palantir Technologies, which specializes in data analytics.
• Principal at WestExec Advisors, a D.C.-based strategic advisory firm founded in 2017 by former Obama administration officials including Antony Blinken, (Biden’s Secretary of State), and Michèle Flournoy, (former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy under President Obama).
• Held several academic positions: senior research scholar at Columbia University and senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

 

Background

Early Years

• Born August 27, 1969 in Manhattan. Daughter of New York artist Adrian Rappin and Thomas H. Haines, a biochemist and professor emeritus at City College who helped found the CUNY School of Medicine, where he served as the chair of the biochemistry department.

Education

• University of Chicago – B.A. in physics, (1992).
• Georgetown University Law Center – J.D. law degree, (2001).

Personal

• Described as “innovative and imaginative,” by President Biden, the multi-faceted Haines can rebuild a car engine, fly a Cessna, and talk theoretical physics. Earned a brown belt from Tokyo’s Kodokan Institute and later opened a bookshop/cafe in Baltimore (in 1994), alongside David Davighi, a fellow flier and bibliophile who later became her husband.

Affiliations/Awards

• First female director of National Intelligence.
• First woman to become deputy director of the CIA.
• Served on several boards and advisory groups including: the Nuclear Threat
  Initiative’s Bio Advisory Group, the Vodafone Foundation, and the Refugees
  International Advisory Council.