WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- The director of public affairs for the U.S. intelligence chief has left to hang out his own communications shingle.
Chad Kolton, who had previously worked in public affairs for the Bush administration at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the White House Office of Management and Budget, left the Office of the Director of National Intelligence effective June 2, an administration official told United Press International.
One of his three deputies, Ellen Cioccio, the chief of internal communications, was named acting director last week, according to a departmental announcement seen by UPI.
Another of the three deputy posts, the chief of public outreach, has been vacant since the previous incumbent, Jocelyn Bodo, left last year to marry senior Republican National Committee official Adrian Gray.
The third deputy post, chief of media relations, was filled in May by Stephen Shaw, a freelance technology writer and editor.
Kolton was credited with a series of efforts to make the DNI's office more accessible to reporters, including regular off-the-record briefings by senior analysts on global hotspots.
He founded Kolton Communications in 2005 after leaving the administration for the first time.
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Shaun Waterman, UPI Homeland and National Security Editor
