CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell is retiring

David Jackson | USA TODAY

The CIA's deputy director is retiring after 33 years in the intelligence business.

"While I have given everything I have to the Central Intelligence Agency and its vital mission for a third of a century, it is now time for me to give everything I have to my family," said Michael Morell in a statement.

Morell said his last day will be Aug. 9.

Some members of Congress have criticized Morell for actions in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, including the editing of "talking points" used to describe the incident.

Morell said he based his decision strictly on family concerns.

"Whenever someone involved in the rough and tumble of Washington decides to move on, there is speculation in various quarters about the 'real reason,'" he said. "But when I say that it is time for my family, nothing could be more real than that."

CIA Director John Brennan praised Morell for his service, saying he "has tackled some of the toughest assignments that CIA has to offer: presidential briefer, associate deputy director, director for intelligence, deputy director, and — toughest of all — acting director."

"In each case, Michael's devotion to the men and women of the agency, our intelligence mission, and to a job well done has been exemplary," Brennan said.

Morell had served as acting director of the CIA after the sudden departure in November of David Petraeus over an extramarital affair. Obama considered Morell for the top CIA spot, but nominated long-time counterterrorism aide Brennan in January.

Morell will be replaced by Avril Haines, currently a legal adviser to President Obama and the National Security Council; she is the first woman to hold that post.

In his statement, Morell praised Brennan and other officials at the CIA. He described the agency's work force as "the heroes of this place, the people at the pointy end of the spear, the patriots who do the work of keeping the country safe every day."

Citing his own career, Morell noted the he worked with President George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, and with President Obama on the day of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, as well as "the ups and downs in between."

Morell said: "Few Americans have been as privileged as I have been to work at, and to represent, such an extraordinary organization."







