John Ratcliffe, Trump’s nominee for CIA Director, faces confirmation hearing amid scrutiny of his past actions and qualifications
Washington: So, John Ratcliffe is back in the spotlight. He’s Donald Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, and his confirmation hearing is coming up. Ratcliffe previously served as the director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term.
This guy has a background as a federal prosecutor and was a congressman from Texas. He really stood by Trump during the impeachment drama back in the day.
Interestingly, Trump first wanted Ratcliffe for the intelligence director role in 2019, but he pulled out after some lawmakers questioned his qualifications. Eventually, he got confirmed by a divided Senate after Trump gave it another shot.
As the intelligence director, Ratcliffe had a big job overseeing a bunch of spy agencies. He was also in charge of spotting and countering foreign attempts to mess with U.S. politics.
However, his time in that role wasn’t without controversy. Democrats accused him of playing politics with intelligence, especially when he declassified some Russian intel that claimed to show dirt on Democrats from the 2016 election, even admitting it might not be true.
If he gets the nod this time, Ratcliffe will take over from the current CIA Director, William Burns. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
