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Daniel N. Hoffman

Daniel N. Hoffman

dhoffman@washtimes.com

Daniel N. Hoffman is a retired clandestine services officer and former chief of station with the Central Intelligence Agency. His combined 30 years of government service included high-level overseas and domestic positions at the CIA. He has been a Fox News contributor since May 2018. He can be reached at danielhoffman@yahoo.com.

Columns by Daniel N. Hoffman

This image released by the Department of Defense on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, and displayed at a Pentagon briefing, shows an image of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. (Department of Defense via AP)

Getting al-Baghdadi was big, but the fight’s not over

On Oct. 27, U.S. Special Forces conducted a dangerous but extraordinarily effective raid resulting in the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, without suffering a single casualty. Hours later, Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, spokesman for the terror group, was killed in a precision U.S. airstrike.

November 7, 2019
Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing to be the new U.S. ambassador to Russia, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019. President Donald Trump's nominee faced questions about Russian election interference and the ouster of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine at his Senate confirmation hearing. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Plenty of work to do for Donald Trump’s new man in Moscow

This month President Trump nominated Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan to be the next ambassador to Russia. With a long and distinguished career in public service, including serving as acting secretary of state, Mr. Sullivan is an outstanding choice for one of the most complex and challenging of our senior diplomatic assignments.

October 31, 2019
In this Monday, April 10, 2017, file photo, the chief of the Ukrainian Central Bank Valeria Gontareva makes a statement on her resignation during a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian officials on Monday, Oct. 21, 2019, lashed out at a parody song targeting Ukraine's former central bank chief Gontareva, and mocking an arson attack on her home, which was firebombed last month. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov, File) ** FILE **

Ukraine’s biggest story involves no Bidens or Trumps

The biggest scandal inside Ukraine -- perhaps one of the most consequential in all of Eastern Europe -- is a row between a courageous former central banker and a notorious oligarch. It is a high-stakes battle, with a clear cast of good and bad guys.

October 24, 2019
FILE - In this Nov. 14, 1989 file photo two East German border guards patrolled atop of Berlin Wall with the illuminated Brandenburg Gate in background, in Berlin. (AP Photo/Jockel Finck, file)

The lessons of Berlin must be learned again in Hong Kong

Early into what would become a three-decade career in government service, I was completing an escape-and-evasion training exercise in the woods on Nov. 9, 1989, when, after weeks of unrest, the East German government announced that its citizens could visit West Berlin.

October 17, 2019
Russian President Vladimir Putin has turned the dissemination of false news into a worldwide tool of influence. (Associated Press/File)

Fake news in Europe threatens U.S. media integrity

"Fake news" is a term that has become all too commonplace. Sometimes we're talking about a genuine piece of disinformation. Other times, fake news means simply a news report with which a politician does not agree.

October 10, 2019
In this Sept. 24, 2018, file photo, CIA Director Gina Haspel addresses the audience in Louisville, Ky. Haspel is headed to Capitol Hill to brief Senate leaders Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, on the slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as senators weigh their next steps in possibly punishing the longtime Middle East ally over the killing. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

Why leakers pose such a danger to national security

A number of news networks faced criticism last month for running with a disputed story that the CIA had to exfiltrate a spy from Russia in part due to concerns about President Trump's mishandling of classified information.

October 3, 2019
Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine accused of spying, is being held in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo Prison. (Associated Press/File)

Paul Whelan a Vladimir Putin pawn in Russia prison

Russian President Vladimir Putin, the onetime KGB operative who also served for a time as director of the FSB security police, is probably enjoying the sweet irony of being on the receiving end of rare harmony between Democrats and Republicans.

September 26, 2019
FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2019, file photo, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad smiles at the U.S. Institute of Peace, in Washington. Amid talk of a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy talking to the Taliban said Thursday, July 11, that America is not “cutting and running” from its longest war and that women will continue to have seats in peace talks to end nearly 18 years of fighting. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

U.S. must mistrust but verify to nail down Afghan deal

Earlier this month, President Trump stunningly revealed that he had canceled peace talks with Taliban leadership at Camp David after the Afghan militant group claimed responsibility for an attack in Kabul that killed 12 people, including a U.S. soldier.

September 19, 2019
FILE - In this June 5, 2019 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchange documents during a signing ceremony following their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. From nukes to huge food aid shipments to a shared skepticism about the United States, Chinese President Xi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will have a long list of topics to discuss when Xi heads north Thursday, June 20. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

U.S. should worry as Russia-China ties heat up

Russia's Defense Ministry has announced the Chinese People's Liberation Army will join Russia and six other nations for Tsentr 2019, a massive, five-day military exercise involving over 100,000 troops that starts Monday.

September 12, 2019