Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he opposes President Trump’s nominee to become the next director of national intelligence, comparing him to ousted national security advisor Michael Flynn.
Schumer said he soured on Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, after watching him question former special counsel Robert Mueller last week.
“This reminds me of General Flynn,” Schumer recounted. “He shouldn’t be acting the way. He strikes me as extremely unqualified in every way.”
Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about conversations with the Russian ambassador.
Flynn was an enthusiastic Trump supporter and at the Republican National Convention led a “Lock her up” chant aimed at Hillary Clinton.
At the Mueller hearing, Ratcliffe lambasted Mueller for announcing his failure to exonerate the president.
“It was not the special counsel’s job to conclusively determine Donald Trump’s innocence or to exonerate him because the bedrock principle of our justice system is a presumption of innocence,” Ratcliffe said during the exchange with Mueller.
Ratcliffe said Mueller’s report put the president “below the law.”
Schumer said he does not believe Ratcliffe can serve in the role independent of Trump and “speak truth to power,” in the critical role.
