Donald Trump said Friday he was nominating ultra-loyalist Texas Congressman to be director of national intelligence – a move he had ditched last August amid concerns the Republican had no experience and previously inflated his resume.
Trump tweeted that Ratcliffe was ‘an outstanding man ‘of great talent’ then claimed that the last time he ditched the nomination was because ‘John wanted to wait until after IG Report was finished.’
That was an apparent reference to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report into the Russia investigation, which was in fact published early in December.
Ratcliffe was a fiery defender of the president during the impeachment hearings late last year.
Trump had made Rick Grenell, another ultra-loyalist who is his ambassador to Germany, acting DNI last week after the incumbent acting DNI Joseph Maguire was pushed out.
He’s back: John Ratcliffe is being re-nominated for the DNI position. The one-time personal injury attorney and small-town mayor had been pulled in August 2019 amid questions over whether his resume was truthful
In the job: Rick Grenell was made acting DIN earlier this month by Donald Trump when Joseph Maguire was suddenly pushed out before his term would have had to end in March, apparently after one of his officials briefed the House Intelligence Committee about Russia’s election-meddling plans
The president had claimed to be considering ‘five or six names’ when asked about filling the post.
The director of national intelligence deals with a wide range of foreign affairs, including possible election interference by other nations, North Korea’s nuclear tests and the situation in Iran.
The director is responsible for Trump’s daily intelligence briefing and has access to all intelligence, including raw source material, on demand.
Ratcliffe’s nomination last summer had crashed amid questions over whether the Senate would vote him through, with questions about his lack of experience added to when he had to ‘clarify’ that he had not prosecuted ‘individuals that currently sit in prison because I prosecuted them for funneling money to terrorist groups,’ as he claimed on his website.
In fact he had reviewed the aftermath of a mistrial involving allegations of terrorist funding, he admitted.
Trump had said the first time round that he picked Ratcliffe in order to rein in U.S. intelligence agencies he said had ‘run amok.’
Ratcliffe, a one-time personal injury lawyer, was the four-time mayor of Heath, Texas, and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas from 2007 until 2008.
He was elected to Congress in 2014 and joined the House Intelligence Committee in 2019.
On it he proved to be a fierce advocate of Trump’s skepticism about the intelligence community and attacked the impeachment process which was led through the committee by Democratic chairman Adam Schiff.
In August last year, the withdrawal of the nomination unfolded in farce as Trump ended up joking that he gets the media to vet his nominations for him after he withdrew Ratcliffe from consideration.
‘We have a great vetting process. You vet for me,’ the president told reporters on the South Lawn before he left to spend the weekend at his golf club in Bedminister, N.J.
‘When I give a name, I give it out to the press and you vet for me. A lot of times you do a very good job. Not always.’
He also defended the White House’s work in the wake of allegations Ratcliffe was not qualified for the job.
‘The vetting process for the White House is very good. But you’re part of the vetting process, you know. I give out a name to the press and they vet for me. We save a lot of money that way,’ he said.
Went well the last time: John Ratcliffe’s aides had to ‘clarify’ his resume, leading to him being pulled as a nominee. Trump did not in fact announce a new nominee ‘shortly.’
He conceded Ratcliffe did not have a lot of experience in the intelligence arena but would have ‘picked it up very quickly.’
‘He would have had very good support. He wasn’t in that world that much. I think he would have picked it up very quickly,’ he said.
At the time he claimed he had a shortlist of three people who he would choose from. In fact he nominated nobody and kept Maguire as acting DNI.
Maguire would have to have left early in March but was moved out early, apparently after one of his officials briefed Congress on Russian plans to meddle in the 2020 election.
Ratcliffe had been given a distinctly lukewarm welcome by Republican senators.
‘I’d rather not address that until I’ve had a chance to meet him to discuss his background and qualifications,’ Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said of him.
His fate appeared to be sealed when Ratcliffe’s aides had to ‘clarify’ the congressman’s claims that he had won terrorism convictions as a federal prosecutor.
Ratcliffe said on his House website that he had tried suspects accused of funneling money to the Hamas terrorist group.
But aides said the congressman had actually investigated side issues related to an initial mistrial.
And intelligence officials had criticized the nomination in August.
‘Ratcliffe comes to the job with the least national security experience and the most partisan political experience of any previous director of national intelligence,’ Michael Morell, a former acting CIA director who now hosts the ‘Intelligence Matters’ podcast, told the Associated Press.
The last actual DNI was former Indiana senator and ambassador to Germany Dan Coats, who repeatedly clashed with the president in his role and publicly stated his belief that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
Coats was highly respected on Capitol Hill and among the intelligence community.