Richard Grenell

Richard Grenell is a long-standing Republican Party operative whose track record includes serving as communications director for the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the George W. Bush presidency, on the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, and more recently as Donald Trump-appointed U.S. Ambassador to Germany.

In February 2020, Trump appointed Grenell, a staunch loyalist, as acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI), a highly sensitive cabinet-level post that oversees all 17 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. Grenell was to fill this post while still holding his role as ambassador.

Grenell’s appointment as the country’s highest intelligence official was met with widespread dismay because of his flagrant lack of experience and credentials for the post, as well as due to his divisive diplomatic track record and controversial consulting work for foreign governments.

The Washington Post opined that Grenell is “manifestly unqualified for the job” because he “has no experience in intelligence or in managing large organizations — like the 17 agencies that will now report to him.” The newspaper’s Editorial Board added that Grenell’s “sycophantic pandering to Mr. Trump” likely convinced the president that “he can be counted on to put the president’s personal and political interests above those of national security—something the two previous DNIs would not reliably do.”[1]

An outspoken proponent of confrontational policies on Iran and a one-sided “pro-Israel” approach to Middle East peace, Grenell’s allies on the hawkish right in the United States lauded his appointment. Morton Klein, head of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), said that Grenell is “a man who understands the importance of our country’s great alliance with Israel in promoting U.S. security interests. There has never been a better friend of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship than Ambassador Grenell.”[2]

The right-wing Jerusalem Post lavished similar praise. Ignoring Grenell’s obsequiousness towards Trump and rocky track record as ambassador, the Jerusalem Post claimed that Grenell’s “meteoric rise within the U.S. government” is due to his “high-intensity diligence, tough diplomacy and a rapid-fire analytical assimilation of vast amounts of data to bring about brilliant policy-making changes.”[3]

Shortly after his DNI appointment, which circumvented Congress because “acting,” numerous observers noted his unregistered lobbying work on behalf of far-right European governments, including in Hungary and Moldova,[4] that may be covered by the U.S. Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), which could bar Grenell from holding an intelligence post.[5] The news prompted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to request a Justice Department investigation. “If the reports regarding the nature of Mr. Grenell’s undisclosed work with foreign entities are accurate, he may be subject to potential civil and criminal liability as well as vulnerable to blackmail in his new position in the Intelligence Community,” Schumer argued.[6]

Ambassador to Germany

President Trump initially considered Grenell for the post of ambassador to the United Nations before settling on Nikki Haley, who served in that post during 2017-2018.[7] Trump’s subsequent decision to nominate Grenell as ambassador to Germany was widely criticized because of his abrasive demeanor and track record of disparaging women. A spokesperson for Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said there were worries about Grenell’s “significant history of making misogynistic and other incendiary statements online.” She also noted that Grenell was “dismissive” of concerns about Russian meddling, a key concern since Germany was a key NATO ally in any confrontation with Russia.[8]

Grenell found himself embroiled in controversy only hours after assuming his post in Germany. Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal the same day, and Grenell, on Twitter, warned German businesses to wind down any dealings with Iran “immediately.” This was viewed in Germany as insulting and interpreted as a threat.[9] One German ex-ambassador replied to Grenell, tweeting, “Ric, my advice, after a long ambassadorial career: explain your own country’s policies and lobby the host country—but never tell the host country what to do, if you want to stay out of trouble. Germans are eager to listen, but they will resent instructions.”[10] Grenell was unapologetic, stating that he had simply repeated the White House talking points.[11]

Grenell has “cheered on the rise of right-wing populists” across Europe, including Austria’s far-right chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whom Grenell dubbed a “rock star.”[12]

In an interview with the alt-right publication Breitbart News, Grenell said: “I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders. I think there is a groundswell of conservative policies that are taking hold because of the failed policies of the left.” He emphasized that he wanted to empower “anti-establishment” conservatives.[13]

The German foreign ministry immediately asked for clarification, and German politicians responded with indignation. One parliamentarian said, “In the past, Germany was fortunate to have had great US ambassadors who built bridges and did not do party politics. … I am irritated to hear from Ambassador Grenell about our allegedly failed policies. … I hope this irritation will not be repeated.”[14]

Another German MP said bluntly, “At least the Russians make an effort not to be seen to be meddling in other countries’ affairs.”[15]

In December 2018, after the revelation that a reporter for the German newspaper Der Spiegel had fabricated numerous stories, Grenell wrote a letter to the editors of the paper. He said that the reporter was symptomatic of a campaign of anti-American institutional bias in the mainstream German media.[16]

When a Der Spiegel reporter was preparing an article on Grenell in January 2019, he responded to a list of questions by accusing the reporter of pushing a “false narrative” with anonymous sources. The article was based on interviews with “more than 30 sources who have come into contact with Grenell.” The result was “an unflattering portrait of the ambassador, one remarkably similar to Donald Trump.” They described Grenell “as a vain, narcissistic person who dishes out aggressively, but can barely handle criticism.”

Der Spiegel reported that few, aside from members of the extreme right Alternative for Germany party, wanted to associate with Grenell at all. The mainstream of German politics, including Chancellor Angela Merkel shunned him.[17]

Grenell’s activism on Middle East policy has also proved divisive. In late 2019, with Trump ensnared in impeachment proceedings, Grenell “lashed out at European leaders for offering economic lifelines to Tehran and being slow to blame it for recent strikes on Saudi oil facilities. … He said he was ‘proud’ to work for a president whose threats of military action are credible and who achieves the ‘perfect balance’ between showing restraint in using force and resolve when it has to be used.”[18]

Nevertheless, some observers in Germany say that Grenell’s aggressive support of the Trump agenda has on occasion appeared to have an impact. For instance, after he pushed Germany to ban Hezbollah, the German Parliament adopted a resolution echoing that proposal. Germany also increased its defense spending, a key Trump gripe that has been loudly echoed by Grenell.[19]

However, other observers contend that Grenell’s confrontational style has largely backfired with respect to Trump administration policy goals. According to an exposé in The Atlantic: “Grenell’s nonstop drive to convince, cajole, and bully Germany into spending more on defense and dropping its support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline— stances that enjoy broad political support in the United States and elsewhere in Europe—have come to nothing. In fact, because Grenell’s efforts have been so aggressive, they appear to have hardened resistance in Germany and made it more difficult for those politicians who agree with him to make their case.”[20]

Trump’s decision in February 2020 to appoint Grenell as DNI appears to have further hardened the views of leaders in Germany with respect to the Trump administration. “It’s an illustration of how unimportant Germany is in their view,” commented one German Parliamentarian, adding that Grenell’s ambassadorship has marked a “nadir in German-American relations.”[21]

“Acting” DNI and Non-Registered Foreign Agent?

President Trump’s announcement in February 2020 that he was appointing Grenell to be “acting” Director of National Intelligence was immediately panned across the political spectrum. While Trump loyalists and right-wing hawks celebrated the announcement, most observers—including many conservatives—fretted over the implications of the appointment. Republican Sen. Susan Collins said, “I care deeply about that position and believe that the person needs experience in the intelligence community, which, regrettably, Ambassador Grenell does not have.”[22]

Wrote one commentator, “Ambassador Grenell has demonstrated in his years as Ambassador to Germany a clear ability and willingness to defend and promote the Trump agenda. … [But] the DNI’s office is specifically mandated to be situated outside not only the offices of any of the 17 disparate intelligence agencies it oversees but even specifies that it ‘shall not be located in the Executive Office of the President.’ There are good reasons for this that have motivated the choice for the office by every president since it was created in the wake of 9/11.”[23]

The appointment was seen as Trump’s effort to sidestep this independence. Grenell was “the second acting director since the resignation in August of Dan Coats, who had publicly contradicted Trump on key issues including by standing firm in U.S. intelligence’s conclusion that Russia interfered in 2016 to back [Trump] over Hillary Clinton.”[24]

Grenell’s immediate predecessor, Joseph Maguire, was forced out of the job only day’s before Grenell’s appointment and shortly “following a classified briefing to the House Intelligence Committee … in which one of [Maguire’s] staffers … reportedly told members of Congress that Russia is already interfering in the 2020 election, and again has ‘developed a preference’ for Trump. Trump was reportedly blindsided by the briefing, and responded the next day by unloading on Maguire during an Oval Office meeting in which the president expressed concern that ‘Democrats would use the information against him.’”[25]

Grenell has himself been outspoken in his effort to “cast doubt on the extent of Russia’s efforts, saying that Moscow’s activities were nothing new.”[26]

This chain of events bolstered claims that Grenell’s “sycophantic pandering to Mr. Trump” convinced the president that “he can be counted on to put the president’s personal and political interests above those of national security—something the two previous DNIs would not reliably do.”[27]

While critics initially focused on Grenell’s manifest lack of experience and independence to hold the job as DNI, attention quickly turned to Grenell’s private work, in particular his consulting for clients in countries like Iran, China, Hungary, and Moldova, which included potential lobbying activities on behalf of a company he cofounded, Capitol Media Partners, that could violate foreign lobbying laws and jeopardize Grenell’s security clearance.

Grenell’s now defunct personal website, a copy of which is archived on the Web Archive, references some of this work. It states: “Richard A. Grenell is the Founding Partner of Capitol Media Partners, specializing in international strategic communications with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C. He has served as the primary communications adviser for public officials at the local, state, federal, and international levels, as well as for a Fortune 500 ranked company with $6 billion in revenues. Grenell has worked with clients based in the U.S. as well as Iran, Kazakhstan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, China, Australia, Timor-Leste, and throughout Europe.”

However, the implications of this work only began to get critical attention after the publication of investigations by ProPublica and the Quincy Institute blog Responsible Statecraft soon after Grenell’s DNI appointment. Building on the revelations made in these two reports, CNN quoted one expert on cases involving the Foreign Agents Registration Act who pointed to similarities with the case of former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was investigated by the Justice Department “after he published an op-ed in 2016 attacking a top critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and admitted the FARA violation.”[28]

According to Responsible Statecraft, Grenell “knowingly provided public relations services directed at U.S. media on behalf of a project funded by Hungary’s far-right government. Grenell didn’t register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), which is a requirement applying to individuals and entities operating inside the U.S. as an ‘agent’ of a ‘foreign principal.’”[29]

According to ProPublica, in 2016 Grenell published op-eds defending his apparent client Vladimir Plahotniuc, who was at the time fighting corruption charges in Moldova and preparing for a visit to Washington. Grenell attacked a prosecutor investigating corruption in Moldova, Mihail Gofman, arguing that he was tied to Russia and was “disguised as a whistle-blower circulat[ing] the halls of official Washington.” Gofman later said that Grenell “came out of nowhere” and “was clearly hired to smear me.”[30]

According to CNN, “Plahotniuc, who was described by The New York Times as the ‘most-feared man’ in the European country, fled Moldova in June after the new government charged him with corruption and seized many of his assets. Last month, the State Department blacklisted Plahotniuc for his ‘involvement in significant corruption’ that ‘severely compromised the independence of democratic institutions in Moldova.’”[31]

Grenell’s financial disclosure form confirms that he received money from his firm, though it is difficult to demonstrate if he was asked by Moldova to write the op-eds. However, as one observer pointed out, “Grenell didn’t just stumble upon Moldova, or wake up with an altruistic concern for Russian meddling in Moldovan politics. Rather, Grenell, ProPublica reported on Friday, was being paid by Plahotniuc, the Moldovan oligarch and target of Gofman’s allegations.”[32]

David H. Laufman, a former chief of the Justice Department’s counterintelligence section, told the blog TPM, “If [Grenell] was personally engaged in a public relations effort or media campaign in the United States on behalf of a foreign political party, I’d be surprised if the Justice Department did not find that to be registrable conduct under FARA.”[33]

Spurred by the reports of Grenell’s consulting work, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer requested a Justice Department investigation, arguing: “If the reports regarding the nature of Mr. Grenell’s undisclosed work with foreign entities are accurate, he may be subject to potential civil and criminal liability as well as vulnerable to blackmail in his new position in the Intelligence Community.”[34]

Pre-Trump and LGBT Views

During the administration of George W. Bush, Grenell served as director of communications and public diplomacy for the ambassador to the United Nations, working with ambassadors John Negroponte, John Danforth, John Bolton and Zalmay Khalilzad. He subsequently served as foreign-policy spokesman on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.

According to The Atlantic:

“When he worked at the UN … reporters described him to The Village Voice as ‘arrogant,’ ‘rude,’ and ‘unbearable.’ Later, during the 2012 presidential election, his incendiary internet persona came briefly to the forefront when he joined Mitt Romney’s campaign as a foreign-policy spokesman. Political reporters—many of whom had been on the receiving end of his Twitter tirades—began re-upping some of his more offensive provocations. He had suggested that the MSNBC host Rachel Maddow ‘take a breath and put on a necklace,’ and proposed that Newt Gingrich use his time on the primary debate stage to ‘rate all his wives.’”[35]

A Romney staff commented: “We announced we were hiring him, and the first thing I got was reporters reaching out to me saying, ‘What have you guys done? This guy is a constant troll. He’s the worst.”[36]

When the Romney campaign “benched” Grenell, hoping the controversy to disappear, “some social conservatives piled on, unhappy that Romney had hired a gay spokesman. Grenell ended up resigning weeks after he was hired.”[37]

Grenell is an advocate for gay rights, including marriage equality and decriminalization of homosexuality around the world. In February 2019, he announced that he would be leading a U.S. push to decriminalize homosexuality, although the State Department had not yet made a formal announcement of such a program. According to Grenell, the campaign would target all countries where homosexuality is still illegal, but he raised concerns by singling Iran out for criticism, after recent reports of the hanging of a gay man in the Islamic Republic.

“This is not the first time the Iranian regime has put a gay man to death with the usual outrageous claims of prostitution, kidnapping, or even pedophilia. And it sadly won’t be the last time,” Grenell wrote. “Barbaric public executions are all too common in a country where consensual homosexual relationships are criminalized and punishable by flogging and death.”[38]

LGBT groups associated with both parties greeted Grenell’s appointment with enthusiasm. The president of the Log Cabin Republicans—a conservative LGBT group—said, “Despite the interminable delays of Democrats hell-bent on standing on the wrong side of history, today the United States Senate confirmed a gay nominee not ‘in spite of’ Republicans, or ‘with Republican support,’ but because of Republican support.”[39]

Similarly, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee’s LGBT caucus said, “Having a Republican president appoint an openly gay man as an ambassador to one of our important allies such as Germany speaks volumes to the influence that the LGBTQ [community] has in politics in the United States.”[40]

Some observers at the time questioned why Grenell would support a politician who had made anti-gay slurs in the past. One conservative columnist mused, “Suppose Barack Obama comes out—as Grenell wishes he would—in favor of same-sex marriage in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. How fast and how publicly will Richard Grenell decamp from Romney to Obama?”[41]

Grenell did not help his position by stirring up controversy with tweets that many perceived as sexist. He attacked the appearances of then-secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow, and Newt Gingrich’s then-wife, Callista.[42]

Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin reported, “Although Grenell also raised the ire of liberal commentators with now-deleted tweets about certain prominent women, none of the sources I spoke with mentioned the tweets as a factor in his resignation decision.”[43]

In 2009, Grenell established Capitol Media Partners, a communications and media strategy firm in Los Angeles. He was a regular contributor to Fox News until his appointment as Donald Trump’s ambassador to Germany,[44] and his writing appeared in many mainstream and right-wing outlets.

Grenell was a vocal critic of Barack Obama’s policies. For example, in December 2009, as Obama was finishing his first year in office, Grenell wrote, “Internationally, it may now appear to be more popular but that is largely because we are not asking countries to do much these days. The Obama team is not leading the world. They have chosen the easy path of non-confrontation. … Sadly, the administration has confused popularity with progress.” On Iran, he described Obama’s policy as “a complete failure and has only strengthened Iran’s resolve.” He condemned Obama’s call for a freeze on Israeli settlement building a “misstep” and lectured him, saying “Obama must learn that the Palestinians and the Israelis must each bargain and agree to the terms of any peace deal on their own if it is to last.”[45]

In November 2012, when Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Burma, Grenell used the opportunity to credit the first free elections in the Southeast Asian country—which occurred under Obama’s watch in 2010—to the “hard work” of the George W. Bush administration for which he had worked, and to again lambast Obama for doing little work of his own. He asserted that Obama’s “administration has refused to do the heavy lifting necessary for future presidents to celebrate others’ achievements,” and had ridden Bush’s coattails to his own victorious moments. “It’s a selfish strategy that will undoubtedly produce great headlines today but leaves more work and less ribbon cutting for the next president.”[46]

SOURCES

[1] Washington Post, “Trump puts an unqualified loyalist in charge of national intelligence,” 21 February 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-puts-an-unqualified-loyalist-in-charge-of-national-intelligence/2020/02/20/d1d8506a-540a-11ea-b119-4faabac6674f_story.html

[2] ZOA, “ZOA Strongly Praises Appointment of Amb. Ric Grenell as Acting National Intelligence Director,” 20 February 2020, https://zoa.org/2020/02/10439012-zoa-strongly-praises-appointment-of-amb-ric-grenell-as-acting-national-intelligence-director/

[3] Jerusalem Post, “The rise of Trump’s new pro-Israel and anti-Iran intel director – analysis,” 21 February 2020, https://www.jpost.com/American-Politics/The-rise-of-Trumps-new-pro-Israel-and-anti-Iran-intel-director-Analysis-618248

[4] See:

·       Eli Clifton, “Trump’s new acting Director of National Intelligence conducted undisclosed work for Hungary’s far-right government,” Responsible Statecraft (Quincy Institute), 24 February 2020, https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/02/24/grenell-undisclosed-work-hungary-far-right-government/

·       Isaac Arnsdorf, “Trump’s New Spy Chief Used to Work for a Foreign Politician the U.S. Accused of Corruption,” ProPublica, 21 February 2020, https://www.propublica.org/article/trumps-new-spy-chief-used-to-work-for-a-foreign-politician-the-us-accused-of-corruption

·       Marshall Cohen, “Richard Grenell once touted his foreign clients. Now he’s the top US intelligence official,” CNN, 25 February 2020, https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/25/politics/richard-grenell-foreign-clients-moldova-hungary/index.html

[5] Josh Kovensky, “Grenell’s Past Foreign Clients Make Him Unprecedented Choice To Lead Intel Community,” TPM, 26 February 2020, https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/grenells-past-foreign-clients-make-him-unprecedented-choice-to-lead-intel-community

[6] Jordan Carney, “Schumer asks Justice Department to probe Grenell’s consulting work,” The Hill, 26 Febraury 2020, https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/484688-schumer-asks-justice-department-to-probe-grenells-consulting-work

[7] David Martsoko, “Trump picks openly gay former diplomat and cancer survivor Ric Grenell as ambassador to Germany,” Daily Mail, September 4, 2017, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4851124/Trump-picks-openly-gay-diplomat-ambassador-Germany.html

[8] Antonia Blumberg, “Senate Confirms Richard Grenell, Trump Nominee For Ambassador To Germany,” Huffington Post, April 26, 2018, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/senate-confirms-richard-grenell-trump-nominee-for-ambassador-to-germany_us_5ae1fb3ae4b02baed1b7e9f4

[9] Rick Noack, “Hours into his new job, Trump’s ambassador to Germany offends his hosts,” Washington Post, May 9, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/05/09/hours-into-his-new-job-trumps-ambassador-to-germany-offends-his-hosts/?utm_term=.ebd108944b48

[10] Wolfgang Ischanger, Twitter, May 9, 2018, https://twitter.com/ischinger/status/994113518604636160

[11] Antonia Blumberg, “New U.S. Ambassador To Germany Offends Hosts Just Hours Into His First Day,” Huffington Post, May 9, 2019, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-us-ambassador-to-germany-offends-hosts-just-hours-into-his-first-day_us_5af337d2e4b0859d11cfcd5f

[12] AFP/The Local, “Row breaks out over US ambassador to Germany supervising CIA,” 21 February 2020, https://www.thelocal.de/20200221/row-breaks-out-over-us-ambassador-to-germany-supervising-cia

[13] Chris Tomlinson, “Trump’s Right Hand Man in Europe Wants To ‘Empower’ European Anti-Establishment Conservatives,” Breitbart News, June 3, 2018, https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/06/03/trumps-right-hand-man-in-europe-wants-to-empower-european-anti-establishment-conservatives/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

[14] Philip Oltermann, “New US ambassador to Germany under fire for rightwing support,” Guardian UK, June 4, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/04/new-us-ambassador-to-germany-under-fire-for-rightwing-support

[15] Philip Oltermann, “New US ambassador to Germany under fire for rightwing support,” Guardian UK, June 4, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/04/new-us-ambassador-to-germany-under-fire-for-rightwing-support

[16] Kate Connolly and Josie Le Blond, “Der Spiegel takes the blame for scandal of reporter who faked stories,” Guardian UK, December 23, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/23/anti-america-bias-der-spiegel-scandal-relotius

[17] Konstantin von Hammerstein, “Trump’s Ambassador Finds Few Friends in Germany,” Der Spiegel, January 11, 2019, http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/u-s-ambassador-richard-grenell-is-isolated-in-berlin-a-1247610.html

[18] Noah Barkin and Mckay Coppins, “America’s Trumpiest Ambassador,” The Atlantic, September 27, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/09/richard-grenell-champions-trumps-foreign-policy/598150/

[19] Eric Kirschbaum, “Germans demand U.S. ambassador, a ‘biased propaganda machine,’ be replaced,” Los Angeles Times, 25 February, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-02-25/richard-grenell-ambassador-germany-acting-director-national-intelligence

[20] Noah Barkin and Mckay Coppins, “America’s Trumpiest Ambassador,” The Atlantic, September 27, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/09/richard-grenell-champions-trumps-foreign-policy/598150/

[21] Eric Kirschbaum, “Germans demand U.S. ambassador, a ‘biased propaganda machine,’ be replaced,” Los Angeles Times, 25 February, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-02-25/richard-grenell-ambassador-germany-acting-director-national-intelligence

[22] CNN, “McConnell pays tribute to former acting spy chief and won’t say if he supports Grenell,” 25 February 2020, https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/24/politics/mcconnell-maguire-intelligence-community-richard-grenell/index.html

[23] David Andelman “Richard Grenell is a disastrous choice to head US intel agencies,” CNN, 22 February 2020, https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/20/opinions/richard-grenell-disastrous-dni-choice-andelman/index.html

[24] AFP/The Local, “Row breaks out over US ambassador to Germany supervising CIA,” 21 February 2020, https://www.thelocal.de/20200221/row-breaks-out-over-us-ambassador-to-germany-supervising-cia

[25] Aaron Rupert, “Trump’s explanation for abruptly replacing the acting intel director with a loyalist doesn’t make sense,” Vox, 24 February 2020, https://www.vox.com/2020/2/24/21150672/joseph-maguire-trump-dismissed-acting-dni-vacancies-act-explained

[26] AFP/The Local, “Row breaks out over US ambassador to Germany supervising CIA,” 21 February 2020, https://www.thelocal.de/20200221/row-breaks-out-over-us-ambassador-to-germany-supervising-cia

[27] Washington Post, “Trump puts an unqualified loyalist in charge of national intelligence,” 21 February 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-puts-an-unqualified-loyalist-in-charge-of-national-intelligence/2020/02/20/d1d8506a-540a-11ea-b119-4faabac6674f_story.html

[28] Jordan Carney, “Schumer asks Justice Department to probe Grenell’s consulting work,” The Hill, 26 Febraury 2020, https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/484688-schumer-asks-justice-department-to-probe-grenells-consulting-work

[29] Eli Clifton, “Trump’s new acting Director of National Intelligence conducted undisclosed work for Hungary’s far-right government,” Responsible Statecraft (Quincy Institute), 24 February 2020, https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/02/24/grenell-undisclosed-work-hungary-far-right-government/

[30] Josh Kovensky, “Ex-Prosecutor In Moldova Targeted By Grenell Dishes On New DNI,” TPM, 25 Febraury 2020, https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/mihail-gofman-richard-grenell-dni

[31] Marshall Cohen, “Richard Grenell once touted his foreign clients. Now he’s the top US intelligence official,” CNN, 25 February 2020, https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/25/politics/richard-grenell-foreign-clients-moldova-hungary/index.html

[32] Josh Kovensky, “Ex-Prosecutor In Moldova Targeted By Grenell Dishes On New DNI,” TPM, 25 Febraury 2020, https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/mihail-gofman-richard-grenell-dni

[33] Josh Kovensky, “Ex-Prosecutor In Moldova Targeted By Grenell Dishes On New DNI,” TPM, 25 Febraury 2020, https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/mihail-gofman-richard-grenell-dni

[34] Jordan Carney, “Schumer asks Justice Department to probe Grenell’s consulting work,” The Hill, 26 Febraury 2020, https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/484688-schumer-asks-justice-department-to-probe-grenells-consulting-work

[35] Noah Barkin and Mckay Coppins, “America’s Trumpiest Ambassador,” The Atlantic, September 27, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/09/richard-grenell-champions-trumps-foreign-policy/598150/

[36] Noah Barkin and Mckay Coppins, “America’s Trumpiest Ambassador,” The Atlantic, September 27, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/09/richard-grenell-champions-trumps-foreign-policy/598150/

[37] Noah Barkin and Mckay Coppins, “America’s Trumpiest Ambassador,” The Atlantic, September 27, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/09/richard-grenell-champions-trumps-foreign-policy/598150/

[38] Quoted in: Josh Lederman, “ Trump administration launches global effort to end criminalization of homosexuality,” NBC News, February 20, 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-administration-launches-global-effort-end-criminalization-homosexuality-n973081

[39] Quoted in: Ariel Jao, “Openly gay U.S. ambassador to Germany makes Republican history,” NBC News, April 27, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/openly-gay-u-s-ambassador-germany-makes-republican-history-n869641

[40] Ariel Jao, “Openly gay U.S. ambassador to Germany makes Republican history,” NBC News, April 27, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/openly-gay-u-s-ambassador-germany-makes-republican-history-n869641

[41] Michael Barbaro, Helene Cooper, Ashley Parker, “Romney Camp Stirred Storm Over Gay Aide,” New York Times, May 2, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/us/politics/richard-grenell-resigns-from-mitt-romneys-foreign-policy-team.html

[42] Nia-Malika Henderson and Aaron Blake, “Mitt Romney adviser Richard Grenell faces backlash over tweets, sexual orientation,” Washington Post, April 24, 2012, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romney-adviser-richard-grenell-faces-backlash-over-tweets-sexual-orientation/2012/04/24/gIQAVhwhfT_story.html?utm_term=.b98fa9ad9557

[43] Jennifer Rubin, “Richard Grenell hounded from Romney campaign by anti-gay conservatives,” Washington Post, May 1 2012, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/exclusive-richard-grenell-hounded-from-romney-campaign-by-anti-gay-conservatives/2012/05/01/gIQAccGcuT_blog.html?utm_term=.0e70b5f0f654

[44] “Richard Grenell,” Fox News, https://www.foxnews.com/person/g/richard-grenell

[45] Richard Grenell, “’A year of little change for Obama,” Al Jazeera, December 30, 2009, https://www.aljazeera.com/focus/2009/12/200912301195192887.html

[46] Richard Grenell, “Obama Praises Burma, Ignores Strife in Iran, Syria,” Newsmax, November 19, 2012, https://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/burma-syria-grenell-obama/2012/11/19/id/464748/