Feds Bracing For Washington Post Intelligence Series

A Washington Post series on the intelligence community, and particularly contractors, by Pulitzer Prize-winner Dana Priest is expected to be published Monday and has some in the federal government planning for damage control, according to several reports.

The Atlantic reveals: “a memorandum sent two weeks ago by Art House, director of communications for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to public affairs officers in the intelligence community about the Washington Post's upcoming series on contractors. In the memo, House discloses that the series has been in the works for two years, includes an online database of contractors and their projects, and a television partnership with PBS's Frontline. House outlines what he thinks the story will conclude, and provides a guide of sorts for the intelligence community to prepare its response.”

Politico, meanwhile, states: “There's much anticipation and some anxiety around town about a Dana Priest series on the intelligence community after 9/11, skedded to begin in the next few days in the WaPo. There's enough concern that a number of public affairs officers held a conference call Thursday to discuss the story in advance and prepare themselves for the wave of press queries they expect to get, starting this weekend.”

Priest could not be reached for comment Friday.