Michael Joseph Morell (; born September 4, 1958) is an American former career intelligence analyst. He served as the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013 and twice as its acting director, first in 2011 and then from 2012 to 2013. He also serves as a professor at the George Mason University - Schar School of Policy and Government.
As a CIA analyst he served as presidential daily briefer to George W. Bush, including on the morning of September 11, 2001. In his book, The Great War of Our Time, Morell defends the use of drones by both the Bush and Obama administrations against suspected terrorists and he explains the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques (what many call torture) by the Bush administration. He is now senior counselor and the global chairman of the Geo-Political Risk Practice at Beacon Global Strategies LLC, a consulting firm in Washington, D.C.
Early life and education
The son of an autoworker and homemaker, Morell is a native of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He went to Saint Joseph's School and Cuyahoga Falls High School there. He is a first generation college student. He has a bachelor of arts from the University of Akron and a master of arts from Georgetown University, both in economics. He joined the CIA in 1980 and served there for 33 years.
Career
Most of Morell's early work in the agency was devoted to energy and to East Asian projects. During his mid-career, Morell managed the staff that produced the president's daily brief, and he served as the executive assistant to DCI George Tenet. Morell was President George W. Bush's daily intelligence briefer during 2001, including on September 11. Morell spent the entire day with the president. When asked by Bush who was responsible for the attacks that day, Morell said, "I have no doubt that the trail will lead to the doorstep of Bin Laden and al-Qa’ida."
Morell also served as director for intelligence, the agency's top analyst, from 2008 to 2010. He served as the CIA's associate deputy director, the agency's top administrator, from 2006 to 2008.
In May 2010, Morell was sworn in as the deputy director of the CIA, succeeding Stephen Kappes. Morell was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the agency's second highest honor, for his role in the bin Laden operation. President Obama, knowing that Morell was with President Bush on 9/11, sent Morell to Dallas to brief him on the raid two weeks after bin Laden was killed.
From July 1, 2011, to September 6, 2011, Morell served his first stint as acting director of the CIA, replacing Leon Panetta after he was confirmed as secretary of defense. On November 9, 2012, Morell once again became acting director after the resignation of David Petraeus, following a sex scandal. President Obama considered naming Morell as Patraeus's permanent replacement but chose John Brennan instead; Brennan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a 63 to 34 vote on March 5, 2013. Morell announced his retirement from the CIA on June 12, 2013, and left the agency in early September 2013.
After retiring from government
In November 2013, Morell joined Beacon Global Strategies as a senior counselor. In 2018, Beacon named Morell as the head of its geo-political risk practice. In this role, Morell advises firms on global developments and what they mean for the companies.
In January 2014, Morell joined CBS News as an on-air contributor on intelligence and national security. In 2018, CBS began producing Morell's weekly podcast on national security, titled Intelligence Matters. In each episode, Morell speaks with current and former members of the intelligence community as well as policymakers about their careers and about national security issues. Each episode is distributed as a podcast and an hour-long program on CBS News Radio. Morell also contributes to the media in other ways, as a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and as an expert voice on Axios.
Edward Snowden
Morell has criticised Edward Snowden for exposing NSA surveillance programs, saying the damage done by Snowden to U.S. national security was profound. Morell said that a U.S. jury should decide whether Snowden was a patriot or a traitor.