Ned Price

Edward "Ned" Price (born 1982) directs policy and communications at National Security Action, is a lecturer at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, and is a national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News. Price is also a former American intelligence officer who worked at the United States Central Intelligence Agency from 2006 until February 2017. On February 20, 2017, Price published an op-ed piece in the Washington Post, outlining his decision to retire from the CIA rather than work in a Donald Trump administration. This piece stirred widespread controversy..

In a February 2017 Washington Post op-ed piece, Price described mounting concerns over Donald Trump, first when he was candidate, then prior to inauguration, and then as the sitting president. For example, Price described his initial concern when, during a debate with rival candidate Hillary Clinton, Trump blithely dismissed the opinions of senior Intelligence officials. Price then described how demoralized he and fellow CIA officials felt when newly inaugurated President Trump used a visit to CIA headquarters for campaign-style self-promotion. Finally, Price reflected on how Trump removed senior intelligence officials from the "principal's committee", and expressed concern that by ignoring their advice he was putting public safety at risk.

In an article published in Politico Magazine on July 14, 2017, Price expressed concerns related to the appointment and continued hold of a security clearance of President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. In the article Price reviewed the extensive vetting that he had experienced to gain a security clearance, which lasted approximately a year, and compared that to the security clearance granted to Kushner. Discussing the recent disclosures of the developing information related to Kushner's apparent involvement in a Russian attempt to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, Price said, "I am confident in saying that my clearance would have been immediately revoked had I, as a career CIA officer, been accused of a fraction of these activities."

Early in his career, Price worked as an intelligence analyst. His focus was on the detection and disruption of possible terrorist attacks against the United States and its interests. In 2013, Mother Jones magazine quoted Price defending the CIA financing research on global warming, in the face of criticism from powerful Republican climate change deniers in Congress. Later in his CIA career, he was loaned to the National Security Council, serving as its spokesperson and as a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama. Price discusses his experiences working under President Obama in the 2018 book, West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House.