DIA chief who oversaw initial Iran bombing assessment steps down
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse "will no longer serve" as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, a senior defense official told reporters on Friday.
The Pentagon declined to say whether Kruse was forced out and why.
A DIA spokesperson confirmed that Kruse is no longer the DIA director and that Deputy Director Christine Bordine has assumed the role of acting director.
Kruse recently oversaw DIA's preliminary assessment of a U.S. strike that Iran's nuclear sites were badly damaged but not entirely destroyed.
The assessment prompted angry denials from President Donald Trump after its findings were first reported by CNN, with the president insisting repeatedly the Iranian sites were "obliterated."
In a statement, Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called it "unsurprising" that Kruse would step down after challenging the president's narrative on the bombing.
"The firing of yet another senior national security official underscores the Trump administration's dangerous habit of treating intelligence as a loyalty test rather than a safeguard for our country," Warner wrote.
Warner said DIA's " honest, fact-based analysis is exactly what we should want from our intelligence agencies, regardless of whether it flatters the White House narrative."
Two Navy admirals were also removed from their posts on Friday, two U.S. officials confirmed.
They are Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, the chief of Navy Reserves, and Rear Adm. Milton Sands, the head of the U.S. Navy's Naval Special Warfare. Lacore was in charge of all U.S. Naval Reserve personnel and Sands was in charge of all of the Navy’s special operations forces, including the Navy SEALs.
One official said that no reasons were given as to why both officers were removed from their positions.
Several high-profile Air Force officers have been forced out in recent months, including Gen. Timothy Haugh, head of the National Security Agency; Gen. Charles "C.Q." Brown, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin also recently stepped down.
