Former CIA Director John Brennan appears none-too-happy with President Donald Trump’s selection for the next Director of National Intelligence (DNI), calling Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) a “servile Trump loyalist.”
“Dan Coats served ably & with deep integrity. Ratcliffe showed abject subservience to Trump in Mueller hearings,” Brennan wrote on Twitter Monday. “The women & men in the Intelligence Community deserve a leader like Coats who puts nation first; not a servile Trump loyalist like Ratcliffe.”
President Trump announced Sunday he has nominated Ratcliffe to replace the outgoing DNI Dan Coats.
The president wrote on Twitter that Coats will step down on August 15th and an acting director for the agency will be “named shortly” as Ratcliffe awaits confirmation.
“I am pleased to announce that highly respected congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the director of national intelligence,” he stated. “A former U.S. attorney, John will lead and inspire greatness for the country he loves.”
Coats has served as DNI since 2017 after the Senate approved his nomination by a vote of 85-12.
The position was created in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks as a means of fostering inter-agency dialogue and cooperation between the 16 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence-gathering network.
Ratcliffe, 53, has served as the Representative for Texas’ 4th district since 2015 and serves on the House Intelligence Committee.
As Breitbart News reported, Ratcliffe made headlines for his grilling of special counsel Robert Mueller, who testified before two Congressional committees regarding his report on now-debunked collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
Ratcliffe (R-TX) eviscerated Mueller for flouting Justice Department policies as well as the principle of presumption of innocence by declaring he could “not exonerate” Donald Trump of obstruction of justice.
Ratcliffe asked Mueller, who testified Wednesday on Capitol Hill to the House Justice Committee, where in Justice Department policies and principles is there a legal standard where a person not found guilty of a crime is considered “not exonerated.”
He previously worked as a U.S. attorney and federal terrorism prosecutor and as Mayor of the city of Heath, Texas.
The UPI contributed to this report.
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