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Trump Considers Appointing Ally to Conduct Review of Intelligence Services

© REUTERS / Carlos Barria/File PhotoU.S. President-elect Donald Trump talks to members of the media as retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn stands next to him at Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 21, 2016
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump talks to members of the media as retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn stands next to him at Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 21, 2016 - Sputnik International
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US President Donald Trump is mulling over plans to appoint New York billionaire Stephen Feinberg, who allegedly has close ties to Stephen Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, local media reported citing administration officials.

White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (C) arrives prior to a joint news conference between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2017. Picture taken February 13, 2017 - Sputnik International
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to these reports, Trump also considering appointing Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, to lead the review of the work of the intelligence services against the backdrop of mutual distrust between the services and the president.

Current and former intelligence officials as well as Republican lawmakers told The New York Times that Bannon and Kushner had at one point considered Feinberg for either director of national intelligence or chief of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) clandestine service.

The sources also told the paper that the real purpose of the intelligence services review was to introduce Feinberg for a higher position later on.

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Feinberg is a co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management and a member of Trump’s economic advisory council.

Both Feinberg and the White House refused to comment on the speculations. However, Feinberg has recently told his company's shareholders that he was in talks to join the administration.

The publication came amid The New York Times reports, pointing at phone records and intercepted calls, that members of Trump’s presidential campaign and several associates had multiple contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, reported that US intelligence officers were holding back sensitive information from Trump because they were concerned data might be leaked or compromised.

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