Exclusive: After Quitting Last Year, Senior U.S. Intelligence Official Now Talks

A year ago this past Saturday, Sue Gordon — the second highest official in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — abruptly quit an ever-ascending career spanning nearly four decades in U.S. spy agencies.

"Mr. President," Gordon informed President Trump at the time in a handwritten note, "I offer this letter as an act of respect & patriotism, not preference. You should have your team. Godspeed, Sue."

The note accompanied Gordon's letter of resignation as the agency's principal deputy director, a job she had held the previous two years. It came just days after Dan Coats, a former Republican senator, had tendered his own resignation as the director of national intelligence following repeated differences with Trump over the U.S. intelligence community's assessments of North Korea, Iran and Russia.

Trump had earlier told reporters that Gordon, whose position had her first in line to become acting director of national intelligence, was a candidate to hold that job until a permanent replacement for Coats was found.