FBI’s domestic intelligence role expands

The FBI has been granted an expanded role in coordinating domestic intelligence activities of the CIA and local law enforcement agencies under a plan enacted this year by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., the Washington Post reports.

The move, endorsed by CIA Director David Petraeus, was meant to enhance the FBI’s ability to lead efforts by federal, state and local authorities in confronting security threats. Concerns have surfaced in some regional offices that the FBI is exploiting its new clout and creating new friction with the CIA.

One former U.S. official said senior FBI agents recently instructed executives from “major manufacturing companies on the West Coast” to cut off contact with the CIA, according to the Post. The FBI’s message: “they were now in charge of relationships with the corporate sector, so the folks there should feel no need to deal with the agency,” according to the anonymous source.