Source: CNN citing four sources and a relevant document regarding this issue, "European Truth"
Details: Intelligence data indicates that foreign adversaries of the U.S. are looking to exploit the Trump administration's plans for mass layoffs in the federal service, as reported.
Among other things, Russia and China are focusing their efforts on recently laid-off employees with access to classified information and those on probation who may possess valuable insights about the United States' critical infrastructure, two sources told CNN.
A document from the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which the network has reviewed, shows that intelligence assesses with "high confidence" the likelihood of attempts to recruit federal employees.
Foreign adversaries' intelligence operatives have been instructed to seek potential sources on platforms such as LinkedIn, TikTok, RedNote, and Reddit, according to the document.
Current Central Intelligence Agency employees have been informally discussing this risk and strategies to mitigate it in recent weeks, current and former intelligence officials told CNN.
According to media reports, Republican senators recently expressed their worry about the aggressive approach to freezing funding and laying off government employees during a conversation with the White House Chief of Staff.
Five former U.S. Secretaries of Defense publicly condemned the "reckless" firing by Trump of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior officers and urged Congress to block any confirmation of their successors.