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Former Deputy CIA Director Michael Morell is sworn in prior to testimony before the House Select Intelligence Committee in 2014 | Getty Michael Morell dropped CBS News analyst job to support Hillary Clinton

Former CIA director Michael Morell dropped his gig as a CBS News analyst before going public with his support of Hillary Clinton, POLITICO has confirmed.

Morell joined CBS News as an intelligence, national security and counterterrorism contributor in 2014. But before he came out publicly in support of Hillary Clinton via a New York Times op-ed on Friday, he cut off his arrangement with CBS News.

CBS News named Fran Townsend senior national security analyst last week. The Cipher Brief first noted Morell's CBS departure on Friday.

We've reached out to Morell for comment and will update here accordingly.

UPDATE 3:15 p.m.:

A CBS news spokeswoman sends this statement:

"Mike shared his plans with the network and we agreed that he would end his relationship with CBS News prior to engaging in any political activity. We are very pleased that Fran Townsend has been retained as a contributor to CBS News and will be our senior national security analyst moving forward."

Hadas Gold is a reporter at Politico.