Politics
JUST IN: Trump Formally Announces Pick For CIA Director
President-elect Donald Trump formally announced his selection for director of the Central Intelligence Agency in a Truth Social post on Tuesday evening.
“I am pleased to announce that former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe will serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),” Trump wrote.
In making his decision, the president-elect pointed to Ratcliffe’s loyal service in the first administration and efforts to fight back against subversive elements of the intelligence community in order to discredit Trump.
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“From exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation, to catching the FBl’s abuse of Civil Liberties at the FISA Court, John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public. When 51 intelligence officials were lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop, there was one, John Ratcliffe, telling the truth to the American People,” Trump wrote.
“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions. He will be a fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans, while ensuring the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”
Trump honored Ratcliffe in 2020 with the National Security Medal, the highest honor for distinguished achievement in the field of intelligence and national security.
Ratcliffe served as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in the first Trump Administration. “In that role, Ratcliffe served as the leader of the U.S. intelligence community and principal intelligence advisor to President Trump. Before that role, Ratcliffe served in Congress for over five years as the U.S. representative for the 4th Congressional District of Texas,” the president-elect’s press release noted.
Then-congressman Ratcliffe meets with Trump in the Oval Office in 2017
Ratcliffe played a key role in removing any doubt behind the Clinton Campaign’s involvement in launching the Russian collusion hoax, which was used to hamstring Trump’s first term.
In a September 2020 memo to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ratcliffe revealed that former CIA Director John Brennan in 2016 briefed then-President Barack Obama on allegations of Russian-directed “hacking” of American elections. Brennan noted that the plan was approved by Hillary Clinton before forwarding it to then FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Assistant of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok.
The announcement comes a little under 24 hours after Trump reportedly selected Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) as his nominee for Secretary of State. While Trump has not formally confirmed the appointment, it has been widely reported without pushback from the transition team as of this report.
Trump has also reportedly named U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) as National Security Advisor and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as Department of Homeland Security chief, though like Rubio, these appointments have not yet been confirmed by Trump.
The president-elect has confirmed that campaign manager Susie Wiles will serve as chief of staff, in addition to former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency chief, Tom Homan for “border czar” and U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
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