Rumours had been swirling for months in Washington's political and security circles that Tom Cotton, the Republican chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, was preparing a far-reaching reform. Uncertainty over the shape of the "Cotton bill" had fuelled intense speculation within an intelligence community already shaken by the upheavals brought about by Donald Trump's administration.
Doubts were abruptly dispelled on 27 June when the Arkansas lawmaker presented his 50-page bill. The
