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\u00a0 rank-and-file intelligence personnel are removed routinely for losing their access to secrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vice Adm. Ted “Twig”\u00a0Branch, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u00a0be the corporate director of Information Dominance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n