CIA retracts intel reports that agency says failed to meet standards for political bias [View all]

Source: CNN Politics

Updated Feb 20, 2026, 10:13 PM ET
PUBLISHED Feb 20, 2026, 7:35 PM ET


CIA Director John Ratcliffe has ordered the retraction or “substantive revision” of 19 of the agency’s intelligence products after a review determined they failed to meet standards for analytic tradecraft and political independence, the Central Intelligence Agency said on Friday.

The spy agency released unredacted versions of three of the retracted or revised intelligence reports. The reports covered topics related to LGBT activists in the Middle East, women and White violent extremism, and contraception during the COVID-19 pandemic. One report was issued under the Biden administration, one under the first Trump administration and one under the Obama administration.

Friday’s declassification is the latest move by Ratcliffe to use the agency’s authority to try to the turn the page on what he sees as the CIA’s past errors.

A declassified CIA memo released last July criticized the analytic work that spy agencies did in concluding that Russia influenced the 2016 presidential election because it wanted Donald Trump to win. Even so, the memo didn’t directly contradict any previous US intelligence.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/20/politics/cia-retracts-intel-reports-ratcliffe