DEI Effects On CIA Analyses And National Policymaking

DEI hasn’t just affected America’s education and corporate institutions. It’s had a profound and damaging effect on our intelligence community.

John A. Gentry | May 14, 2026

Critics of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) policies often focus on issues such as their Marxist, racialist motives and implications for university admissions policies. However, CIA director John Ratcliffe’s recent decision to release several rescinded biased analyses to the public shows that DEI policies also have practical effects on national policy decision-making.

Ratcliffe announced on February 20, 2026, that the CIA had rescinded 17 analytic reports that contained DEI-related biases and revised and re-released two others. The CIA declassified and released three of the recalled publications to show the kinds of biases embedded in the others.

Ratcliffe said the action did not reflect the Trump administration’s policies. Instead, the reports failed to meet longstanding analytic “tradecraft” standards set forth in Intelligence Community Directive 203 (“Analytic Standards”), which was initially issued in 2007. The CIA’s action followed the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board’s review of its products, which found problematic analyses. Some intelligence officers reportedly believe Ratcliffe could have rescinded more reports.

The three documents, which were published during the Obama presidency, the first Trump term, and the Biden years, illustrate several DEI-related biases. The most egregiously biased report came from the CIA’s Counterterrorism Mission Center in October 2021 and is titled “Women Advancing White Racially and Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremist Radicalization and Recruitment.”

The document is an “Intelligence Assessment,” a standalone CIA publication format that addresses a major issue. As just one example of the DEI ideology permeating it, the assessment stated,

We assess that female members have been emerging as key players........

© American Thinker