President Trump praised Richard Grenell as his tenure as the acting director of national intelligence appears to be coming to an end.
After the Senate Intelligence Committee advanced Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe to the Senate floor for confirmation as Grenell’s replacement, Trump spoke highly of his acting spy chief, who was in the room, for the “fantastic job” he has done since assuming the role on Feb 19.
“I’d like to congratulate Rick Grenell for doing such a fantastic job as acting — I don’t think you want to be permanent, so I think you’re very happy to be acting — but what a job. I think you’ll go down as the all-time great acting, ever, at any position. So, thank you very much, Rick. Thank you very much,” Trump said.
Grenell thanked Trump for the plaudits and said members of the intelligence community are working with greater transparency.
“Greetings from an intel community that is very interested in providing policymakers, everybody around this table, with raw intelligence that is not politicized in any possible way,” Grenell said. “I have heard from hundreds of members of the current intel community who are extremely pleased with transparency of their work, and that’s what they’re shooting for. That’s what they want to provide to policymakers, is information that is not politicized by politicians in any way on any side of the aisle.”
Grenell, who is serving concurrently as the U.S. ambassador to Germany and the acting director of national intelligence, became the first openly gay Cabinet-level official when he was appointed earlier this year.
Republicans have cheered him on as he declassified long-sought-after documents related to investigations into Russian election interference, including transcripts of witness interviews from the House Intelligence Committee’s inquiry, showing the Obama administration saying it had not seen direct evidence of Trump-Russia collusion. He declassified a list of Obama administration officials who received information in response to “unmasking” requests that revealed former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn’s identity in surveillance intercepts. He also declassified the full email Obama national security adviser Susan Rice sent herself about an Oval Office discussion on the FBI’s investigation into Flynn.
Grenell’s appointment was chastised by Democrats, who said they believed he was too loyal to Trump. Grenell’s team denied accusations that he was executing a “purge” in its efforts to downsize the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
