Incoming House Intelligence chair Himes plans oversight of covert action and Trump donor ties

Rep. Jim Himes, the Connecticut Democrat who will chair the House Intelligence Committee in the next Congress, said Wednesday that he plans to increase oversight of the Trump administration's expanded use of covert action, including by the CIA. He also said the committee would scrutinize donations from intelligence and defense contractors to President Trump's construction projects. The White House has reportedly widened intelligence agencies' footprint in Mexico and Latin America and against adversaries in cyberspace, while also firing hundreds of longtime officials. Himes said investigations would examine whether officials were fired for saying something at odds with what the president wanted to be true. Congress is also looking at 11 or more suicides this year at US cyber agencies, where workloads have surged over the past year amid escalating foreign conflicts, Bloomberg reported.

Newsmax, on the right, puts the donors first in its headline, "Himes Eyes Trump Donors, Intelligence Oversight." It describes Himes as the incoming chairman and pairs more oversight of covert operations with an investigation of contractor donations to Trump. In the portion available, it does not mention firings or suicides. The New York Times, on the left, leads with oversight of the CIA's use of covert action and treats the scrutiny of contractor donations to Trump's construction projects as a secondary plan. Both outlets agree on the core facts: Himes will chair the committee, covert action will be examined, and contractor donations will be reviewed. They differ mainly in order of emphasis and in the Times's CIA focus. Semafor, from the alternative side, takes a distinct angle. It leads with the expansion of covert activity in Latin America and cyberspace, the dismissals of hundreds of officials and Himes's remarks on them, and the cyber-agency suicides. Its opening excerpt does not mention the donations.