Trump will tap billionaire who pushed for overseas private armies to lead intelligence agency

Financier Is Top Choice to Advise President on Intelligence Matters

Trump has finally picked members for a key intelligence advisory board, and billionaire Stephen Feinberg is slated to head it.

BY JENNA MCLAUGHLIN | JANUARY 22, 2018, 12:42 PM

The man who once reportedly dreamt of being the most powerful American in Afghanistan has now set his sights on a new intelligence job that would give him direct access to U.S. President Donald Trump and the White House.

After a year in office, Trump has zeroed in on a group of personal advisors on intelligence matters, and Stephen Feinberg, a billionaire financier who has angled for a position in the White House for nearly a year, is top on the list to lead it.

Feinberg will lead the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, six sources with knowledge of the matter told Foreign Policy. The sources requested anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters and internal policy.

A spokeswoman for Feinberg declined to comment.

Feinberg is the CEO of private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, which owns the private security firm DynCorp International. Over the past summer, Feinberg and Blackwater founder Erik Prince both pitched plans for a private military force in Afghanistan to the White House.

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https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/22/financier-is-top-choice-to-advise-president-on-intelligence-matters/