NEW JOB for Fred in Denver
Washington – The CIA has plans to relocate the headquarters of its domestic division, which is responsible for operations and recruitment in the United States, from the CIA’s Langley, Va., headquarters to Denver, a move designed to promote innovation, according to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials.
About $20 million has been tentatively budgeted to relocate employees of the CIA’s National Resources Division, officials said. A U.S. intelligence official said the planned move, confirmed by three other government officials, was being undertaken “for operational reasons.”
A CIA spokesman declined to comment. Other current and former intelligence officials said the Denver relocation reflects the desire of CIA Director Porter Goss to develop new ways to operate undercover, including setting up more front corporations and working more closely with established international companies.
Associates of Goss said Thursday that the move also was in keeping with his desire to stop the growth of CIA headquarters and headquarters- based group-think, something he criticized frequently when he was chairman of the House intelligence committee.
Other CIA veterans said such a relocation would make no sense, given Denver’s distance from major corporate centers.
“Why would you go so far away?” one asked. “They will get disconnected.”
The main function of the domestic division, which has stations in many major U.S. cities, is to conduct voluntary debriefings of U.S. citizens who travel overseas for work or to visit relatives, and to recruit foreign students, diplomats and businesspeople to become CIA assets when they return to their countries.
It was unclear how many CIA employees would relocate to Denver under the plan.
Spokespeople for U.S. Sens. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said they had not heard of the CIA’s plans. State House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, said state leaders have worked hard to bring more jobs to Colorado, but “we just never thought to ask the CIA.”
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“I’ve always thought that Colorado is the center of intelligence,” Romanoff said. “I’m glad the feds finally realized the same.”
Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer said he had heard that a branch of the CIA was moving to the region, but he had no information about where it would be located or which division would move here.
“I think it’s fabulous,” Tauer said. “It would be great for the entire region. It would bring quality jobs and the contractors and businesses that come with them.”
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was out of town and couldn’t be reached for comment. Gov. Bill Owens declined to comment on the report.
Although collecting information on U.S. citizens under suspicion for terrorist links is primarily an FBI function, the CIA also may collect information on citizens under limited circumstances, according to a 1981 executive order. The exact guidelines for those operations are spelled out in a classified document signed by the CIA director and approved by the U.S. attorney general.
It is unclear how a move to Denver would increase the effectiveness of the domestic division’s operations, said several former intelligence officials.
Colorado has become a major intelligence hub since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Aurora is home to the little- known Aerospace Data Facility. Located at Buckley Air Force Base, it has become the major U.S.-based technical downlink for intelligence satellites operated by the military, the National Security Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office, according to military and government documents obtained by William Arkin, author of “Code Names,” a book about secret military plans and programs.
About 70 miles south of Denver, the U.S. Northern Command, based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, is tasked with homeland defense and has been increasing its domestic intelligence work.
It’s not known if the CIA’s Denver plans are linked to the presence of either facility.
The Denver move, which is tentatively scheduled for next year but has not been finalized, coincides with several other developments related to the CIA’s domestic intelligence work.
Last week, the CIA and FBI agreed to a new “memorandum of understanding” on domestic and foreign operations, the first change in decades. The negotiations surrounding the memo were contentious, with the FBI saying that it should control and approve the CIA’s domestic activities.
But the FBI is having significant problems developing its own domestic intelligence branch, and the CIA is generally viewed across the intelligence community as more experienced and skilled at handling foreign informants.
Denver Post staff writers Felisa Cardona, Chris Frates and Manny Gonzales contributed to this report.
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