Trump Announces Congressman John Ratcliffe as Nom for Director of National Intelligence After Dropping Plan Last Year

President Donald Trump has announced that Congressman John Ratcliffe is his nominee to serve as Director of National Intelligence. Again.

I am pleased to announce the nomination of @RepRatcliffe (Congressman John Ratcliffe) to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Would have completed process earlier, but John wanted to wait until after IG Report was finished. John is an outstanding man of great talent!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2020

You may remember that Ratcliffe had been announced as Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence last July, to succeed Dan Coats.

There was immediate pushback from Democrats and at the time the New York Times reported there was some concern among a few Republicans.

Days later Trump announced his intent to withdraw Ratcliffe’s nomination, invoking the “unfair” media coverage and saying, “Rather than going through months of slander and libel, I explained to John how miserable it would be for him and his family to deal with these people… John has therefore decided to stay in Congress where he has done such an outstanding job.”

The current acting DNI is U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, and now the president has tweeted he’s nominating Ratcliffe again, saying “John wanted to wait until after IG report was finished.”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!