John Ratcliffe says 'experienced' intelligence officials 'have gotten it wrong' in defense of renewed spy chief bid
Rep. John Ratcliffe said his "different kind of experience" makes him a strong candidate for President Trump's top intelligence official. The Texas Republican, who is being renominated to be the director of national intelligence, took on criticisms he faces as he explained why he is "absolutely" qualified at a time when the United States deals with national security threats such as the spread of the new coronavirus and another potential wave of Russian election interference, saying, "I’ve been handling national security issues as far back as 2005.” "I haven't served in an intelligence agency. I think that bringing a different kind of experience today is really going to be vitally important. You know all of the experience in the world isn't helpful without judgment, and I think what we've seen is that some of our most experienced intelligence officials have gotten it wrong with respect to important issues," Ratcliffe told Catherine Herridge of CBS News.
His critique aligns with complaints by Trump, who has a history of breaking with intelligence assessments by his own agencies, and who has castigated top former officials who investigated his 2016 presidential campaign. Ratcliffe has been a leading voice in demanding accountability over allegations of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses by the Justice Department and the FBI.
Trump initially nominated Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as the director last summer, but the congressman withdrew within days after some senators questioned his credentials and he was accused of overstating his professional record regarding the prosecution of Hamas terrorists. “I reconsidered because the president asked me, and I think when the president asks you to do something for your country, you look at that,” Ratcliffe said. “I think I’ll have the support of all Republicans at the end of the day. I’m going to work hard to convince at least some of my Democratic colleagues on the other side of the aisle.”
After Trump announced late Friday that he was renominating Ratcliffe, Democrats quickly fired off fresh complaints. "Replacing one highly partisan operative with another does nothing to keep our country safe. At a time when the Russians are interfering in our elections, we need a nonpartisan leader at the helm of the Intelligence Community who sees the world objectively and speaks truth to power, and unfortunately, neither acting Director Grenell nor Rep. Ratcliffe comes even close to that," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. Trump defended his selection of Ratcliffe on Saturday, praising him as a “terrific man” during a wide-ranging news conference about the coronavirus earlier on Saturday. “He’s been fantastic at everything he’s done,” Trump added
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The president said Ratcliffe wanted him to hold off on a renomination to the top spy perch until after DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s FISA report had been released, which happened in December. “He wanted to wait until after the IG report,” Trump told reporters. “The IG report has now come, and we’ve learned a lot of very bad things from the IG report, as you know very well.” The president also predicted Ratcliffe will be confirmed by the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans. “I think he’ll go through a process, and I think it’ll go fairly quickly. He’s a very respected man, somebody that I’ve gotten to like, somebody who really has — he’s someone who has really distinguished himself, I think, over the last year and a half or two years in particular,” Trump said. “So, we’re very happy with that.”