Rep. John Ratcliffe is reportedly President Trump’s favorite to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence.
Trump mulled replacing Coats since at least February, and Ratcliffe has since risen to the top of the president’s shortlist of potential replacements, according to Axios.
The Texas Republican impressed Trump with his tough questions of former special counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday, though the president had considered Ratcliffe a strong candidate for the job even before Mueller’s testimony. Trump met with Ratcliffe two days before Mueller’s testimony to discuss the job, according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
Trump met with Ratcliffe nine days ago to discuss the job, per ppl briefed on the meeting. https://t.co/lxdbbURUtY
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 28, 2019
Ratcliffe had peppered Mueller with questions surrounding the federal prosecutor’s judgment that a two-year investigation had not exonerated Trump of colluding with Russian agents.
“The special counsel’s job, nowhere does it say that you were to conclusively determine Donald Trump’s innocence or that the special counsel report should determine whether or not to exonerate him,” Ratcliffe said, pointing out that Mueller’s judgment contradicts one of the foundations of the American legal system: that someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Trump has said he would like to abolish the director of national intelligence position altogether, but his aids and advisers have pulled him back, saying that such a move is not politically possible.
“I am focused on doing my job, and it is frustrating to repeatedly be asked to respond to anonymous sources and unsubstantiated, often false rumors that undercut the critical work of the Intelligence Community and its relationship with the President,” Coats said in a statement when first approached about reports of his exit.
“I am proud to lead an IC singularly focused on the vital mission of providing timely and unbiased intelligence to President Trump, Vice President Pence and the national security team in support of our nation’s security,” Coats said.
UPDATE:
Trump tweeted at 4:45 p.m. on Sunday that he intended to nominate Ratcliffe to be the next director of national intelligence. Coats will resign from the position, effective August 15. Trump has yet to name an acting director. Read more here.
