President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday his decision to appoint John Ratcliffe as CIA director for his incoming administration.
Here are four key points about the Republican chosen to lead the U.S. government’s top intelligence agency:
Second stint in the Trump administration
Ratcliffe previously served as director of national intelligence (DNI) in the final months of Trump’s first term, overseeing American intelligence agencies during the coronavirus pandemic and addressing foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election. His experience in intelligence makes him a more conventional choice for the role, which requires Senate confirmation, compared to some of the loyalists proposed by Trump’s supporters.
As DNI, Ratcliffe participated in a late-night press conference just weeks before the 2020 election, during which he and other officials attributed a series of intimidating emails to Iranian interference in the U.S. election. He also faced criticism for declassifying unverified Russian intelligence that alleged damaging information about Democrats from the 2016 election, a move that Democrats labeled as partisan and politicizing intelligence. Later, Ratcliffe made headlines when he rejected claims from numerous former intelligence officials that emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop, left at a Delaware computer repair shop, had the characteristics of a Russian disinformation effort, asserting that the intelligence community did not support that view due to a lack of evidence.
John Ratcliffe Loyalty to Trump in Congress
Elected to Congress in 2014, Ratcliffe gained prominence in 2019 as a staunch defender of Trump during the House’s initial impeachment proceedings. As part of Trump’s impeachment advisory team, he rigorously questioned witnesses and, following the House’s impeachment vote, argued that it was “the thinnest, fastest, and weakest impeachment our country has ever seen.” During former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election, Ratcliffe emerged as one of the more assertive Republican questioners, challenging Mueller and criticizing the report he produced.
Questions About John Ratcliffe Resume
Ratcliffe’s path to becoming DNI was not without obstacles. He initially withdrew from consideration in August 2019 after facing increasing scrutiny regarding his experience and qualifications. Although Trump nominated him to replace former DNI Dan Coats, Democrats dismissed Ratcliffe as an unqualified partisan, and Republicans offered only limited support. Multiple news reports raised doubts about his qualifications, suggesting he may have exaggerated his experience as a federal prosecutor in Texas before joining Congress. Ratcliffe then stated that he believed he could have approached the job “with the objectivity, fairness, and integrity that our intelligence agencies need and deserve.” However, he withdrew to avoid turning his confirmation into a political debate. Ratcliffe was re-nominated in February 2020 and confirmed by a divided Senate in May of that year.
A staunch critic of China
Ratcliffe has consistently voiced concern over China, identifying the country as the primary threat to U.S. interests and global stability. His perspective aligns with other incoming Trump administration officials, including Michael Waltz, Trump’s pick for national security adviser, who advocated for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to China’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic and its mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims. Ratcliffe argued in a December 2020 Wall Street Journal op-ed that China aims to dominate economically, militarily, and technologically, suggesting that many of China’s public initiatives and prominent companies serve as cover for the Chinese Communist Party’s activities.
China is reportedly preparing for potential renewed tensions with the Trump administration, including a possible tariff war, while national security and intelligence officials tracking China remain concerned about issues like economic espionage, cyberattacks, technological advancements, and tensions over Taiwan that could further strain relations.
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