Pedro Israel Orta is an Army and CIA veteran, evangelical minister, and author of the book, “The Broken Whistle: A Deep State Run Amok”.
Federal Newswire
Is there a problem of politicization within law enforcement and intelligence organizations?
Pedro Israel Orta
What we're dealing with today is nothing new. We had these problems back in the 50s, the 60s and the 70s. Back then there was technically no congressional oversight of the intelligence community. They were doing their own thing until eventually it caught up with them and it led to the Church Committee.
We're talking about some serious abuses of power, conflicts of interest using the CIA to topple governments, [and] to benefit the private interest of bankers who were affiliated with the CIA. That happened in Central America, Guatemala–vast abuses of power.
Frank Church, a Senator from Idaho, initiated some proceedings. The outcome was establishment of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee of Intelligence. [These are] oversight bodies for Congress to have a direct effect as far as how and what the intelligence community is doing: mechanisms of reporting, mechanisms for funding, mechanisms to adjudicate alleged violations of laws, and so forth.
The process diminished the power of the CIA to a degree, but in the 1980s the CIA became again a very powerful element of the executive branch under President Reagan. It continued to increase in power.
Now you're looking at increased technological powers and additional powers given to the intelligence community through the Patriot Act, the intelligence reform act that established the office of Director of National Intelligence.
Federal Newswire
What is the purpose of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) when we have a CIA?
Pedro Israel Orta
The theory of having a DNI is noble when it's a good intention, and you can't fault them for that. But the reality is that the typical government response… throw money and people at the problem, is making the problem bigger because now you have more money and more people doing the same thing that you were doing before. It makes it even harder to coordinate at times. You have extra layers of people involved. It's just more red tape and more bureaucracy. And that's not the answer.
Federal Newswire
When did your family come to the United States from Cuba?
Pedro Israel Orta
I was born and raised in Miami. My family came from Cuba in the early 60’s. They had to flee Cuba because one of my grand-uncles [on my] father’s side was a political prisoner for 20 years. My grandfather was actually thrown in jail, but he managed to get out. At that time, he had to flee the island before his wife, grandmother, three sons and one daughter.
They followed a few months later. I was born in that generation. They left everything, lost their business, their properties, their money, and started from zero here in the United States, in Miami, not knowing one word of English.
That's my pedigree and my background. I grew up in a Cuban household that knew about the perils of tyranny, communism, and socialism from a political, oppressive perspective, as well as the economic tyranny that comes with it.
Federal Newswire
What did you do after high school?
Pedro Israel Orta
Straight out of high school I worked in the private sector for about ten years, and then I enlisted in the Army Reserves. I went back to Miami to do sales at the same time, so I worked in that tight-knit Cuban community, and I was affected by it.
[I could see] the evils of communism because of what my relatives were going through…eventually, when some relatives were able to go back and visit, I heard the horror stories of what they encountered over there.
I finally put myself through school at night, basically working full time during the day and going to school at night to be able to get my degree. Once I got my degree in political science, I was able to eventually transition over to the CIA.
Federal Newswire
What will it take to bring freedom to Cuba?
Pedro Israel Orta
That's a tough one. The political powers are so entrenched that it's almost impossible for the people to rise up and do it. It's going to have to be a situation where the leadership finally awakens and realizes that this is not working. Part of it is going to be engagement, and the other part is going to be some…restrictions.
There's no will in the people to topple the government because they're so impoverished. They're so dependent on the state that for them to topple that government, nothing would really change…
Federal Newswire
What is the relationship between intelligence agencies and politics?
Pedro Israel Orta
What you've got is power, and the ability to use that power against a political opponent. We can pick and choose what information we want to pass along, how we want to pass it along, and what kind of narrative we want to shape.
This opens up another issue, which is that if you start looking at every time the government investigates itself, there are fundamental flaws in such investigations. They almost have predetermined outcomes. It's like we find exactly what we want to find, how we want to find it, when we want to find it. It goes back to, how do we [create] effective oversight to stop all of this?
We may have to reinstate a new Church Committee, and this time potentially bring in outsiders who are not going to be…biased towards one side or the other.
