CIA Director John Ratcliffe Declassifies Internal Tradecraft Review of 2016 Election ICA to Promote Analytic Objectivity and Transparency

For Immediate Release: July 2, 2025

CIA Director John Ratcliffe Declassifies Internal Tradecraft Review of 2016 Election ICA to Promote Analytic Objectivity and Transparency

Earlier this year, CIA Director John Ratcliffe tasked Agency career professionals with decades of experience to conduct a lessons-learned review of the procedures and analytic tradecraft employed in the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) conducted shortly after the 2016 election. Today, Director Ratcliffe declassified the results of this review.

The tradecraft review identified multiple procedural anomalies in the preparation of the 2016 ICA, such as a compressed timeline, uneven access to compartmented information, marginalization of the National Intelligence Council, and excessive involvement of agency heads. The review notes that adhering to established analytic processes and rigorous tradecraft is essential to ensure credibility, objectivity, and accuracy of CIA analysis.

Director Ratcliffe declassified this review in order to promote analytic objectivity and transparency. “Agency heads at the time created a politically charged environment that triggered an atypical analytic process around an issue essential to our democracy,” said Director Ratcliffe. “Under my watch, I am committed to ensuring that our analysts have the ability to deliver unvarnished assessments that are free from political influence.”

The lessons-learned review can be viewed here.

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