House GOP task force: Military leaders distorted ISIS intel to downplay threat

Military leaders edited intelligence reports about the Islamic State to downplay the threat posed by the terrorist organization, a congressional investigation has concluded.

Senior officials at U.S. Central Command “regularly provided line-in/line-out edits and wording changes” to intelligence reports that were provided to then-CENTCOM commander Army Gen. Lloyd Austin and “other senior customers.” The edits rendered the final versions of those reports “consistently more optimistic” than analysis provided by career CENTCOM experts, according to a new report from the joint task force formed by members of three House committees and released on Thursday.