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With Dan Coats Resigned from his position as national intelligence director, Trump quickly made the decision to replace the man he regularly mocked about "Mister Rogers" by appointing a Texas representative John Ratcliffe, a loyalist who recently mounted a strong public defense of the president during the Robert Mueller hearings but about which doubts were expressed as to his experience.
"I am pleased to announce that the highly respected Congressman, John Ratcliffe of Texas, will be appointed by me to the position of Director of National Intelligence. Former US attorney, John will lead and inspire the greatness of the country he loves, "tweeted Trump Sunday.
"Ratcliffe has the least experience in national security and the most partisan political experience of any former national intelligence director," he said. Michael Morell, former acting director of the CIA, which now hosts the Intelligence matters Podcast.
The director of national intelligence oversees the country's 17 intelligence agencies, which represents important work that touches on all aspects of national security policy-making. If it was confirmed, Ratcliffe would be Trump's chief intelligence advisor, who seems determined to surround himself with protectors and vocal advocates, even in national security posts that have not always been there. perceived as supporters.
"It's a moment when Donald Trump can deepen his personal grip on the intelligence function and eliminate any dissenting voice to his worldview," said a Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin from Maryland. "It's a scary thing for the country."
Selection comes months after Trump clears another ally, Attorney General William Barr, to divulge secret information collected by other agencies as part of the investigation into Russia. Ratcliffe clearly expressed his skepticism about this investigation and his belief that Trump had been badly treated by investigators, claiming during a TV show Sunday that it was time to move on from the discussion on dismissal.
Coats, who will leave office next month, has often run into Trump. He was publicly convinced of his belief that Russia had been ingested in the elections, despite the president's ambivalence. He seemed to make fun when he learned in an interview that Trump had invited the Russian president Vladimir Poutine in Washington. And in his resignation letter, he cited as an accomplishment the appointment of an election security official "to support government-wide efforts to respond to threats to our election".
Despite tensions with Trump, Coats brought to Washington an experience of several decades, including lengthy stays as a Congressman from Indiana and US Ambbadador to Germany. His predecessor in the Obama administration, James Clapper, spent decades in the military and intelligence, including as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Ratcliffe does not have the same qualifications, although his supporters probably report his experience as a prosecutor, as well as his recent membership in the House Intelligence Committee, which he joined in January.
Ratcliffe was first elected to Congress in 2014 and his experience as supreme federal prosecutor in East Texas gave him instant power when Republicans headed the judicial panel. He was one of the main interrogators when Republicans arrested Justice Ministry officials to find out if they had a bias against Trump in the early days of the FBI's investigation of Russia. .
It is not clear if concerns about his referrals will trip the confirmation process. The confirmation takes a simple majority of 51 votes, under the new Senate rules, but this leaves room for error when Republicans hold a 53-seat majority.
Here is the report of Andrew Buncombe.
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