A NSA document has drawn attention of influential members of Congress
FILE PHOTO: General Paul Nakasone, National Security Agency chief © Win McNamee / Getty Images
Two members of the US House of Representatives wrote to the National Security Agency head on Tuesday, with questions about the recently leaked diversity document filled with “Critical Race Theory” terms such as “white privilege” and “social justice.”
Mike Waltz of Florida and Jim Banks of Indiana, both Republican congressmen, want General NSA Director Paul Nakasone to explain who authored the document, how it was made public, and whether the agency actually believed its contents, which may be at odds with US policy and values.
“This document raises questions about NSA’s hiring and contracting processes that deserve answers,” Waltz and Banks wrote.
The lawmakers said they were “deeply concerned” about the document, a glossary of “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)” terms that contains many definitions they described as either “incoherent” or “deeply troubling.”
Banks and Waltz singled out the definitions of ‘whiteness’, ‘capitalism’, ‘structural racism’, ‘equity’ and ‘neocolonialism’, to wonder what the agency – charged with spying abroad, and all too often on Americans – actually believes.
The 34-page document was apparently posted on the internal NSA server in May 2022, but only surfaced last week when someone leaked it to the outlet Daily Wire.
The outlet accused the NSA of endorsing “blatantly left-wing views on race and sex,” noting that the glossary favorably cited the work of controversial academics such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo.
Waltz, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, confirmed to the Daily Wire that the document was authentic. The letter to Nakasone implies that the NSA had unpublished the document at some point since, but it remains in circulation online. The agency has yet to comment on the matter.
In one of his very first executive orders, President Joe Biden declared that everything his administration does would be based on “racial equity.”
Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense has requested $114 million from Congress to fund “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” programs in the new fiscal year. This prompted the House Oversight Committee Republicans to complain on Tuesday that the White House’s “focus on progressivism over warfighting continues to exacerbate the military recruiting crisis and calls into question our level of military preparedness.”
