Richard Grenell
Richard Grenell | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Special Presidential Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Peace Negotiations | |
In office October 4, 2019 – January 20, 2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
United States Ambassador to Germany | |
In office May 8, 2018 – June 1, 2020 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | John B. Emerson |
Succeeded by | Robin Quinville (acting) |
Director of National Intelligence | |
Acting | |
In office February 20, 2020 – May 26, 2020 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Deputy | Andrew P. Hallman (acting) Neil Wiley (acting) |
Preceded by | Joseph Maguire (acting) |
Succeeded by | John Ratcliffe |
Personal details | |
Born | September 18, 1966 Jenison, Michigan, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Domestic partner | Matt Lashey |
Education | Evangel University (BA) Harvard University (MPA) |
Richard Allen Grenell (born September 18, 1966) is an American diplomat, political advisor, and media consultant who served as Acting Director of National Intelligence in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet in 2020. A member of the Republican Party, Grenell served as the United States Ambassador to Germany from 2018 to 2020 and as the Special Presidential Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Peace Negotiations from 2019 to 2021.
Grenell was a U.S. State Department spokesperson to the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration. Following his State Department tenure, he formed Capitol Media Partners, a political consultancy; he also was a Fox News contributor. Grenell was a foreign policy spokesperson for Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential campaign.[1]
In September 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Grenell as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. On April 26, 2018, he was confirmed by the United States Senate by a vote of 56 to 42.[2] Grenell presented his credentials to the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on May 8, 2018. [3][4][5]
Grenell was named by President Trump in 2020 as Acting Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration, making him the first openly gay person to serve at a Cabinet level, albeit in an acting capacity, in the United States. He was Acting DNI from February to May 2020.
Grenell had expressed interest in running in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election.[6] But then Grenell announced on July 15, 2021 on the Sean Hannity Show, that he would not be a candidate in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election.
Early life and education[]
Grenell graduated with a bachelor's degree in Government and Public Administration from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. He received a master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.[7][8][9]
Career[]
Prior to his service at the State Department, Grenell was a political adviser to a number of prominent Republicans, including George Pataki and Dave Camp.[10]
Minister-Counselor, State Department (2001–2008)[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Richard_Grenell_voting_at_a_UN_Security_Council_meeting.jpg/170px-Richard_Grenell_voting_at_a_UN_Security_Council_meeting.jpg)
In 2001, Grenell was appointed by President George W. Bush as Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy for the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (formally, his title was Minister Counselor).[11] Serving in that role until 2008, Grenell advised four different U.S. Ambassadors. During his tenure, Grenell promulgated U.S. official position and strategy on such issues as the War on Terror, global peacekeeping operations, nuclear proliferation, and the UN Oil for Food corruption scandal.[12]
Consulting, media, and campaign work (2009–2017)[]
In 2009, Grenell founded Capitol Media Partners, an international strategic media and public affairs consultancy with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C.[citation needed] He was also under contract as a Fox News contributor, commenting on foreign affairs and the media.[13][14] Grenell has written for The Wall Street Journal,[15][16] CBS News,[17][18] CNN,[19] Politico,[20] Huffington Post,[21] The Washington Times,[22] and Al Jazeera.[23] In 2012, CNN ranked Grenell as one of the top five Republican consultants in social media,[24] and Time magazine named Grenell as one of the Top 10 Political Twitter Feeds of 2014.[25]
Grenell was a foreign policy spokesperson for Republican candidate Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential campaign. Grenell is the first openly gay person to work as a spokesperson for a Republican presidential candidate.[26][27]
Grenell was a signatory to a 2013 amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.[28]
In 2016, Grenell's consulting firm accepted more than $100,000 from the Magyar Foundation of North America to provide public relations support for the Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán. Grenell did not disclose this payment under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) prior to his work in the Trump administration.[29]
Days after Grenell's appointment as DNI, CNN reported that his personal website had—until 2018—touted consulting work he had done for clients in Iran, China, Kazakhstan and other countries.[30]
Ambassador to Germany (2017–2020)[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Ambassador_RichardGrenell_met_today_with_Berlin_Governing_Mayor_Michael_M%C3%BCller_%2829276899927%29.jpg/220px-Ambassador_RichardGrenell_met_today_with_Berlin_Governing_Mayor_Michael_M%C3%BCller_%2829276899927%29.jpg)
In September 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Grenell to become the United States Ambassador to Germany.[31] After a significant delay, the United States Senate confirmed Grenell 56–42 on April 26, 2018.[32][33] Grenell was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on May 3, 2018,[34] making him the highest-ranking openly gay Ambassador.[35] Grenell was also under consideration for the posts of U.S. Ambassador to NATO and United States Ambassador to the United Nations (filled by Ambassador Kelly Craft).[36][37]
Grenell presented his credentials to the President of Germany on May 8, 2018.[38] Within hours of taking office, Grenell offended German diplomats and business leaders when he tweeted that "German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately."[39] The tweet was widely perceived as a threat, with the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, commenting that "This man was accredited as ambassador only yesterday. To give German businesses such orders … that’s just not how you can treat your allies.”[40] The leader of Germany's Social Democratic Party said that Grenell "does appear to need some tutoring" in the "fine art of diplomacy", while the Left Party urged the Merkel government to summon Grenell to explain his comments.[40]
Grenell stirred controversy in June 2018 by telling Breitbart News, "I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders."[41] This comment was described as a breach of diplomatic protocol and a breach of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which stipulates that ambassadors have a "duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State".[3][41] Prominent German politicians called for Grenell's dismissal.[42][43][44][45] Martin Schulz, former leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, said, "What this man is doing is unheard of in international diplomacy. If a German ambassador were to say in Washington that he is there to boost the Democrats, he would have been kicked out immediately."[42]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Richard_Grenell_official_photo.jpg/170px-Richard_Grenell_official_photo.jpg)
Grenell was a regular contributor on Fox News's Tucker Carlson Tonight during the first few months of his ambassadorship in Germany. In November 2018, he appeared on the show and repeated his criticism of Angela Merkel's immigration policies. Grenell compared Merkel unfavorably to the recently elected Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz, who (according to Grenell) "won in a very big way" because of his strict stance on immigration. The magazine Der Spiegel called these remarks a "thinly veiled call for a change of government in Berlin".[3] Grenell's perceived interference in German politics drew criticism from several high-ranking German politicians. In March 2019, Wolfgang Kubicki, Vice President of the Bundestag and deputy chairman of the Free Democratic Party, charged Grenell with acting "like a high commissioner of an occupying power" and called for Grenell to be expelled from Germany.[46][47]
In December 2018, during the affair surrounding Der Spiegel journalist Claas Relotius, Grenell wrote to the magazine, complained about an anti-American institutional bias, and asked for an independent investigation.[48][49][50] In January 2019, Grenell told Handelsblatt that European companies participating in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are "always in danger, because sanctions are always possible". U.S. administrations had long opposed the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2, a pipeline for delivering natural gas from Russia to Germany.[51] Grenell also threatened to sanction German companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2.[52]
Der Spiegel published a profile of Grenell on January 11, 2019, using interviews with 30 “American and German diplomats, cabinet members, lawmakers, high-ranking officials, lobbyists and think tank experts". The magazine wrote that "almost all of these sources paint an unflattering portrait of the ambassador, one remarkably similar to Donald Trump, the man who sent him to Berlin. A majority of them describe Grenell as a vain, narcissistic person who dishes out aggressively, but can barely handle criticism." The profile claimed that Grenell was politically isolated in Berlin because of his alleged association with the far-right Alternative for Germany Party, causing the leaders of the mainstream German parties—including the Chancellor herself—to avoid contact with him; while Grenell had pressed German parliamentarians to invite him to their districts, most had declined.[3] The sources claimed that Grenell knew little "about Germany and Europe, that he ignores most of the dossiers his colleagues at the embassy write for him, and that his knowledge of the subject matter is superficial".[3][53]
In the fall of 2018, Grenell played a key diplomatic role in planning the arrest of Julian Assange by providing backchannel assurances to Ecuador that Assange would not face the death penalty in the United States.[54] In February 2019, it was announced that Grenell was leading the Trump administration's newly formed effort to promote the decriminalization of homosexuality in nations in which homosexuality was illegal.[55] In January 2020, Lev Parnas told The Daily Beast that he was told to ask Grenell for advance notice if the DOJ were to move to extradite indicted Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash.[56][57] Among other actions as ambassador, Grenell pressured Germany to take a tougher stance against Iran and Hezbollah.[58]
Following his appointment as Acting Director of National Intelligence, Grenell has said he would resign as ambassador once a full-time DNI was confirmed.[59][60][61] On May 25, 2020, after John Ratcliffe was confirmed, Grenell confirmed he would resign as ambassador in the coming weeks.[62][63][64] He formally resigned on June 1, 2020.[65][66][67]
Special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/4T0A1674_%2849413330273%29.jpg/250px-4T0A1674_%2849413330273%29.jpg)
Richard Grenell, Special US Presidential Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Peace Negotiations (standing right),
Eset Berisha, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Kosovo (sitting right)
In October 2019, Trump named Grenell a special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations.[68] He continued serving part-time as special envoy after his resignation as ambassador, working from the White House.[69][70][71] After months of diplomatic talks, on January 20, 2020, Grenell facilitated negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo[a] where the two nations agreed to restore flights between their capitals for the first time in more than two decades.[72][73] A June 27, 2020 peace summit between the two sides was arranged to take place in Washington D.C., but was canceled due to the potential indictment of Hashim Thaçi on war crimes.[74][75]
Grenell organized a new summit, located at the White House, for September 3 and 4, 2020. Grenell, along with his friend Robert C. O'Brien, cohosted the talks. On September 4, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti signed the Kosovo and Serbia economic agreements.[76][77] The signing ceremony took place in the Oval Office at the White House in the presence of US President Donald Trump on September 4, 2020.[77] In September 2020 Grenell traveled to Kosovo to receive the Presidential Medal of Merits from President Thaçi. His tenure ended with the Trump presidency on January 20, 2021.
Acting Director of National Intelligence[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Appointment_of_Richard_Grenell_as_Director_of_National_Intelligence.png/220px-Appointment_of_Richard_Grenell_as_Director_of_National_Intelligence.png)
Tenure[]
On February 13, 2020, Shelby Pierson—the intelligence community's top election security official, deputy to Joseph Maguire—advised members of the House Intelligence Committee that Russia was interfering in the 2020 election in an effort to get Trump re-elected. Trump chastised Maguire for allowing the briefing, concerned that Democrats might "weaponize" the information against him.[78][79][80]
On February 20, 2020, Trump replaced Maguire as Acting Director of National Intelligence, appointing Grenell to the role.[12][81] Maguire and his deputy, Andrew Hallman, resigned from the Office of the Director for National Intelligence (ODNI).[82] Kash Patel — a National Security Council official and former aide to congressman Devin Nunes — was named the next day as a senior advisor to Grenell.[83]
As an acting director, Grenell was not subject to Senate confirmation. Although Trump indicated he would be appointing a new U.S. Ambassador to Germany,[84] Grenell kept this position while also serving in his new role,[85] and Grenell indicated he did not expect to take the Director of National Intelligence job on a permanent basis.[84]
On February 28, 2020, Trump announced the nomination of U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe to the post of Director of National Intelligence. The nomination allowed Grenell to stay on as acting director pending Ratcliffe's confirmation.[86][87] With Ratcliffe's confirmation and installation, Grenell's tenure as acting Director ended on May 26, 2020.[88] Trump gave Grenell his Cabinet chair upon his resignation, something unusual for an acting Cabinet member, because of his status as the first openly gay U.S. Cabinet official.[89]
Policies[]
Grenell enacted a hiring freeze at ODNI and ordered a review of the agency's personnel and mission.[90] On May 8, he announced a reorganization of ODNI including a consolidated cyber office,[91][92] and on May 15, he announced organizational changes to the National Counterterrorism Center.[93] Also on May 15, Grenell announced that ODNI would lead election security threat briefings for 2020 presidential candidates, replacing the FBI.[94][95][96]
In April 2020, Grenell said the administration was considering policies to reduce intelligence-sharing with countries that criminalize homosexuality.[97] On April 29, 2020, he ordered each intelligence agency to review their policies on handling and sharing information on U.S. citizens.[98][99]
On April 2 and 15, 2020, Grenell acted to declassify several footnotes in a report on FISA abuse released by DOJ Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz.[100][101] He also played a role in the release of 57 transcripts of Russia probe interviews by the House Intelligence Committee.[102][103][104] On May 12, 2020, Grenell declassified the names of Obama administration officials who unmasked Michael Flynn,[105][106] A subsequent Justice Department investigation of Obama administration unmasking concluded in October 2020 with no findings of substantive wrongdoing.[107] On May 19, 2020, Grenell declassified an email that Obama's national security advisor Susan Rice sent to herself.[108] On the day his tenure ended, Grenell declassified several documents related to the Russia probe.[109]
Private sector (2020–present)[]
In August 2020, the American Center for Law and Justice announced that Grenell had been named Special Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy[110] for the organization. That month, Grenell became a senior advisor to the Republican National Committee, focusing on outreach to LGBT voters.[111]
Controversies[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Matt_Lashey%2C_Mariam_Ali_Moussa%2C_and_Richard_Grenell%2C_4th_of_July_2019_in_Berlin.jpg/220px-Matt_Lashey%2C_Mariam_Ali_Moussa%2C_and_Richard_Grenell%2C_4th_of_July_2019_in_Berlin.jpg)
Grenell's selection as a foreign policy adviser to the 2012 Romney campaign stirred up two unrelated controversies. One was due to his "snarky" tweets about various public women, and the other because he is openly gay.[1]
A February 20, 2020, White House press release announcing the appointment of Grenell to the post of Acting Director of National Intelligence, stated that Grenell had "years of experience working with our Intelligence Community in a number of additional positions";[112] however, this assertion was disputed by others who asserted Grenell had little background in intelligence matters.[113][114][115] Republican Senator Susan Collins, one of four co-authors of the legislation creating the ODNI in 2004, said: "I care deeply about that position and believe the person needs experience in the intelligence community, which regrettably Ambassador Grenell does not have."[116]
On the day his tenure began, it was reported that Grenell had not disclosed payments for advocacy work on behalf of Moldovan politician Vladimir Plahotniuc.[117][118]
On March 10, 2020, Grenell declined to attend a congressional hearing on election security, "citing apprehension about his preparedness to address sensitive subjects that tend to upset the president."[119]
Grenell claimed in August 2020 that "President Trump is the most pro-gay president in American history. I can prove it." The Washington Post fact-checker gave his claim "Four Pinocchios" and described the claim as absurd. The fact-checker noted, "the only items Grenell can cite in support of his supposedly pro-gay record concern Grenell’s own temporary appointment and a policy announced by Grenell that Trump apparently knew little about... That’s pretty thin gruel on which to claim Trump is the most pro-gay president in history, especially when Trump has worked actively to undermine protections for the LGBT community that were enacted under Obama."[120]
On November 2, 2020, the day before election day, Grenell posted an old photo from 2019 to claim that Joe Biden did not wear a mask on a plane during the COVID-19 pandemic. Grenell called Biden a "Washington, DC phony!", suggesting that Biden only wore a mask in public for appearances' sake while not wearing one in private.[121][122]
On November 5, 2020, Grenell appeared as a speaker of the Trump campaign press conference in Las Vegas, pushing the local effort to overturn the presidential election Donald Trump had lost and announcing a federal lawsuit against "illegal" votes. He made allegations of fraud, claiming that non-residents and people who were long dead had voted in Nevada and accusing the state of covering up these incidents. When asked by journalists to identify himself and present evidence backing up any of his claims, Grenell refused to answer the questions and told reporters: "You're here to take in information".[123] All the post-election lawsuits related to Nevada were later either dropped or dismissed.
A few days later, LGBTQ Nation criticized Grenell after he had been tricked on Veterans Day, November 11, 2020, into tweeting well wishes to William Calley, the former U.S. Army officer convicted for the premeditated killings of 22 unarmed civilians in the 1968 Mỹ Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. The Nation journalist Ken Klippenstein had tweeted a picture of Calley to Grenell, pretending it was a photo of his own grandfather and requesting public recognition of the elderly veteran. In response, Grenell tweeted, "Thank you for your service, Bill Calley! #VeteransDay". Upon learning that he'd been the victim of a joke, Grenell tweeted, "Duped. Trying to be helpful to people who reach out on Veteran's Day. It's a shame people would do this on a day like today. DC is a sick city."[124][125][126]
Senior fellow at Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Politics and Strategy[]
In June 2020, Richard Grenell was made a senior fellow at the Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Politics and Strategy in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.[127] He is to work on two projects, a report on the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality and various campus-engagement projects about the changing face of Europe.[128] Grenell's position as Senior Fellow is for one year and is a non-teaching position.[129]
Grenell's appointment was controversial at the university.[130] Dr. Kiron Skinner, the founding director of the Institute for Politics and Strategy, defended the hiring decision on the basis of academic freedom and diversity of thought.[128][129] The university issued a report on Grenell's hiring, titled Report on the Appointment of Richard Grenell to the Carnegie Mellon University Institute for Politics and Strategy.[131] The report found that Dr. Skinner had followed hiring mandates by consulting with the three deans of Dietrich College, the College of Engineering, and the School of Computer Science.[132] They also found that there had been no other "senior fellow" in the institute's history, and that no other visiting scholars in the university's history had received the title of senior fellow.[129][131] It also stated that "there are features of the hiring of Mr. Grenell which, to our knowledge, are unique in Carnegie Mellon’s experience, and for which Carnegie Mellon does not currently have policies. As such, the determination of whether appropriate policies and procedures were used cannot be answered."[131] The report's conclusion also stated that "Prof. Skinner followed the small set of existing policies and procedures in place in the hiring of Richard Grenell, and he began his position on July 1."[131]
Personal life[]
Grenell is a registered Republican.[133] He has a longtime partner, Matt Lashey.[34]
In June 2013, Grenell revealed that he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and started chemotherapy.[134] In September 2013, he announced that he was in remission.[135]
Honors[]
Notes[]
- ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008. Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognized as an independent state by 97 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 113 UN member states are said to have recognized Kosovo at some point, of which 15 later withdrew their recognition.
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- ^ "Serbia-Kosovo Flights to Resume Under U.S.-Brokered Deal". The New York Times. January 20, 2020.
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- ^ "Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor Charges Thaci with War Crimes". Balkan Insight. June 24, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
- ^ Wood, Vincent (September 4, 2020). "Serbia and Kosovo agree to normalise economic ties in US-brokered deal". The Independent. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ^ Kelly, Laura, Maggie; Chalfant, Morgan (September 4, 2020). "US brokers economic breakthrough for Serbia, Kosovo". The Hill. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Ballhaus, Rebecco; Pancevski, Bojan (September 4, 2020). "Serbia, Kosovo Agree to Normalize Economic Relations". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
- ^ Barnes, Julian E.; Haberman, Maggie (February 19, 2020). "Trump Names Richard Grenell as Acting Head of Intelligence". NYTimes.com.
- ^ Jim Acosta; Zachary Cohen; Dana Bash; Jeremy Herb. "Russia is looking to help Trump win in 2020, election security official told lawmakers". CNN.
- ^ Nakashima, Ellen; Harris, Shane; Dawsey, Josh; Gearan, Anne (February 21, 2020). "Senior intelligence official told lawmakers that Russia wants to see Trump reelected". Washington Post. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
- ^ "Acting Director of National Intelligence". Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
The Honorable Richard A. Grenell assumed the role of Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Feb. 20, 2020.
- ^ Barnes, Julian E.; Goldman, Adam; Fandos, Nicholas (February 21, 2020). "Richard Grenell Begins Overhauling Intelligence Office, Prompting Fears of Partisanship". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ^ Lippman, Daniel. "NSC aide who worked to discredit Russia probe moves to senior ODNI post". POLITICO.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "As Grenell moves to spy post, Trump looks for new ambassador to Germany". Reuters.com. February 23, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- ^ Barnes, Julian E.; Haberman, Maggie (February 19, 2020). "Trump Names Richard Grenell as Acting Head of Intelligence". The New York Times. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
- ^ "Trump nominates Rep. John Ratcliffe to be intel chief — again". Nbcnews.com. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- ^ Nicholas Fandos. "Richard Grenell Begins Overhauling Intelligence Office, Prompting Fears of Partisanship - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
- ^ Zwirko, Walt (May 26, 2020). "Ratcliffe sworn in as new US spy chief". KTEN. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ Coleman, Justine (June 2, 2020). "Trump gives Grenell his Cabinet chair after he steps down". The Hill. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
- ^ Barnes, Julian E.; Goldman, Adam (March 12, 2020). "Acting Intelligence Chief Freezes Hiring and Looks to Cut Office". The New York Times.
- ^ Miller, Maggie (May 8, 2020). "Grenell announces creation of intelligence community 'cyber executive'". TheHill.
- ^ Landay, Jonathan (May 8, 2020). "Acting U.S. spy chief overhauls agency in defiance of congressional concerns". Reuters – via www.reuters.com.
- ^ Barnes, Julian E.; Schmitt, Eric (May 15, 2020). "Intelligence Chief Reduces Size of Counterterrorism Office". The New York Times.
- ^ Singman, Brooke (May 15, 2020). "ODNI to offer election security briefings for both parties in run-up to November". Fox News.
- ^ Rummler, Orion. "DNI to take lead role in election security briefings". Axios.
- ^ "Grenell: Top counterintel official will take charge of 2020 campaign briefings on election interference". Washington Examiner. May 16, 2020.[unreliable source?]
- ^ Barnes, Julian E. (April 22, 2020). "U.S. May Share Less Intelligence With Countries That Criminalize Homosexuality". New York Times. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
- ^ "Acting Intelligence Chief says he's "increasingly concerned" over handling of sensitive U.S. person information among agencies and orders broad review". www.cbsnews.com.
- ^ "'Increasingly concerned': Spy chief orders review of unmasking policies for intelligence agencies". Washington Examiner. May 2, 2020.[unreliable source?]
- ^ "New intel chief pivotal in releasing classified dossier bombshell". The Washington Times.
- ^ Jeremy Herb; Evan Perez. "GOP seizes on newly declassified material to raise further questions about Steele dossier". CNN.
- ^ Singman, Brooke (May 6, 2020). "Intel chief tells Schiff transcripts of Russia probe interviews cleared for release". Fox News.
- ^ "House Intelligence Committee releases dozens of transcripts from Russia probe". www.cbsnews.com.
- ^ "Acting DNI Grenell Statement on Release of HPSCI Transcripts". www.dni.gov.
- ^ Barnes, Julian E.; Benner, Katie (May 12, 2020). "Intelligence Chief Declassifies List of Obama-Era Names in Unusual Step". The New York Times.
- ^ Harris, Shane; Zapotosky, Matt. "Acting intelligence chief Grenell gave DOJ list of Obama officials who 'unmasked' Michael Flynn". Washington Post.
- ^ Zapotosky, Matt; Harris, Shane. "'Unmasking' probe commissioned by Barr concludes without charges or any public report" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
- ^ Moreno, J. Edward (May 19, 2020). "Grenell declassifies Susan Rice email sent on Inauguration Day". The Hill. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ Singman, Brooke (May 26, 2020). "Grenell declassifies slew of Russia probe files, as Ratcliffe takes helm as DNI". Fox News. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ "Richard Grenell Joins the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) as Special Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy". American Center for Law and Justice.
- ^ Singman, Brooke (August 20, 2020). "Grenell joins RNC as senior adviser focused on LGBT voter outreach". Fox News. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ^ "Statement from the Press Secretary". whitehouse.gov. February 20, 2020 – via National Archives.
- ^ "White House Appoints Outspoken Ambassador As New Acting Head Of Intelligence". NPR.org.
- ^ "President Trump appoints loyalist Richard Granell as acting intelligence chief - CNN Video". cnn.com.
- ^ "Trump angry after House briefed on Russia meddling in 2020 election on his behalf". NBC News.
- ^ Bolton, Alexander (February 25, 2020). "Trump Creates New Headaches for GOP with Top Intelligence Pick". The Hill. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ Isaac Arnsdorf Trump’s New Spy Chief Used to Work for a Foreign Politician the U.S. Accused of Corruption; Richard Grenell did not disclose payments for advocacy work on behalf of a Moldovan politician whom the U.S. later accused of corruption. His own office’s policy says that could leave him vulnerable to blackmail. February 21, 2020 propublica.org
- ^ Brown, Emma; Reinhard, Beth; Bennett, Dalton (February 27, 2020). "Richard Grenell's paid consulting included work for U.S. nonprofit funded mostly by Hungary". The Washington Post.
- ^ Nakashima, Ellen. "No evidence yet that Russia has taken steps to help any candidate in 2020, intelligence official tells Congress". Washington Post.
- ^ "The absurd claim that Trump is the 'most pro-gay president in American history'". The Washington Post. 2020.
- ^ "Trump's former intelligence chief uses a 2019 photo to attack Biden for not wearing a face mask". The Independent. November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- ^ Daniel Dale. "Fact check: Viral photo of Biden on a plane without a mask is from before the pandemic". CNN. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- ^ Graziosi, Graig (November 5, 2020). "Trump spokesman lashes out at journalists for asking for evidence behind Nevada fraud case: 'You're here to take in information'". The Independent. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
- ^ Browning, Bil (November 12, 2020). "Trump's gay outreach director thanked a war criminal for his "service" on Veterans Day". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ "Gay Trump spokesman Richard Grenell spent Veterans Day thanking a convicted war criminal for his 'service'". PinkNews - Gay news, reviews and comment from the world's most read lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans news service. November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ^ Choi, David (November 12, 2020). "Former Trump official was duped into thanking a war criminal on Veterans Day". Business Insider. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ^ University, Carnegie Mellon. "Richard Grenell joins IPS as a Senior Fellow - News - Carnegie Mellon University". www.cmu.edu. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b University, Carnegie Mellon. "Statement from IPS Director and Taube Professor Kiron Skinner on Richard Grenell - Institute for Politics and Strategy - Carnegie Mellon University". www.cmu.edu. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Grenell hiring stirs campus controversy - The Tartan". thetartan.org. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ "CMU receives backlash over the naming of a senior fellow". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Kamlet, Mark S.; Bryant, Randal E.; Rousseau, Denise M. (August 3, 2020). "Report on the Appointment of Richard Grenell to the Carnegie Mellon University Institute for Politics and Strategy" (PDF). Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
- ^ University, Carnegie Mellon. "Staff Hiring Freeze Approvals - Human Resources - Office of the General Counsel - Carnegie Mellon University". www.cmu.edu. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ "Gay Bush Appointee Loses Appeal for Fair Treatment". The Advocate. September 27, 2008.
- ^ "Joining the Fight". richardgrenell.com. June 10, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
- ^ Richard Grenell [@RichardGrenell] (September 30, 2013). "I'm officially in remission. #CancerFree @cityofhope" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ T, Brett (December 24, 2020). "President Trump presents Richard Grenell with a National Security Medal". twitchy.com. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
- ^ "Thaçi Awards Grenell with Medal of Merits for Kosovo-Serbia Deal". Exit - Explaining Albania. September 21, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
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