GOP lawmakers seek answers on ISIS intel

Two Republican lawmakers are demanding that the Department of Defense respond to allegations that intelligence reports were altered to make the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) look weaker than it is.

Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) wrote two letters on Friday afternoon asking for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to be briefed no later than Sept. 18.

“We are deeply concerned about these allegations and want to ensure that intelligence provided to key decision makers properly reflect the expert analysis produced by our Intelligence Community (IC) professionals,” they wrote in letters to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Jon Rymer, the Pentagon’s inspector general.

The letters come two days after a Daily Beast report claiming that more than 50 intelligence analysts at U.S. Central Command have made formal complaints to the Pentagon’s inspector general. The complaints allege senior officials altered their reports to paint an optimistic picture of ISIS and al Qaeda’s branch in Syria.

The inspector general’s investigation was first reported by The New York Times in July, but The Daily Beast article revealed the scope of the complaints.

Chaffetz and DeSantis’s letter to Carter asks for information on the nature of the allegations, as well as on department procedures for providing information to senior civilian and military leadership.

The two are asking for Rymer’s office to designate appropriate officials to brief the committee.

“We are also troubled to learn of allegations that those in the IC who sought to improve the situation were met with political roadblocks, ‘urged to retire’ or left on their own,” they wrote in both letters.

“Retaining our trained and experienced intelligence analysts is an important factor in maintaining a strong IC capable of preempting threats and furthering our national security objectives.”