Former Director Of National Intelligence, Ratcliffe Nominated To Head Up The CIA [WATCH]

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday evening that former Texas congressman and ex-Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe will return to a leadership role in the executive branch, this time as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Ratcliffe, who previously oversaw the nation’s 17 intelligence agencies under Trump, has a record of addressing critical security issues, from alleged abuses within the FBI to election-related intelligence matters.

BREAKING:

Trump picks John Ratcliffe as his CIA Director.

Ratcliffe served as director of national intelligence during the 1st Trump term

He has stated that there’s overwhelming evidence that COVID came from the lab in Wuhan & that the U.S. & Israel should tackle Iran together pic.twitter.com/P8BGvevpY0

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 13, 2024

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Trump, 78, expressed confidence in Ratcliffe’s commitment to transparency and his approach to national intelligence. “From exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation, to catching the FBI’s abuse of Civil Liberties at the FISA Court, John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public,” Trump stated.

Trump highlighted Ratcliffe’s defense of the public’s right to information, including his vocal stance on Hunter Biden’s laptop. “When 51 intelligence officials were lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop, there was one, John Ratcliffe, telling the truth to the American People,” Trump added.

NEW: President Trump announces the nomination of @JohnRatcliffe as Director of the CIA. pic.twitter.com/RDjvlhyohl

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 12, 2024

Ratcliffe, 59, represented a suburban Dallas district in Congress for over five years before initially joining Trump’s administration.

Trump nominated him to oversee national intelligence in May 2020 after an initial attempt to appoint him as DNI the previous year faced roadblocks.

In 2019, some Senate Republicans voiced concerns about Ratcliffe’s lack of experience and questioned his ability to maintain an impartial approach.

Ratcliffe withdrew his name from consideration, but Trump re-nominated him in 2020, leading to a sharply divided vote in the Senate.

During his confirmation hearing, Ratcliffe sought to address concerns about impartiality. “Whether you are talking about the president, whether you are talking about Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell — anyone’s views on what they want the intelligence to be will never impact the intelligence that I deliver. Never,” Ratcliffe testified, underscoring his commitment to providing unbiased intelligence reports.

His stance won over skeptics, including GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, allowing him to secure the role.

As DNI, Ratcliffe became known for dispelling claims that questioned the authenticity of a New York Post report on Hunter Biden’s laptop, calling it a “bombshell.”

He clarified that the laptop was not part of any Russian disinformation scheme, as some officials had suggested. “Hunter Biden’s laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign,” Ratcliffe stated on Fox Business Network shortly after the New York Post published details of the Biden family’s overseas business dealings. “Let me be clear: The intelligence community doesn’t believe that because there is no intelligence that supports that,” he said.

Ratcliffe has also been an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), holding them responsible for misleading the world about the origins of COVID-19.

He has been a strong advocate for “holding China accountable” for its actions and warned about extensive CCP efforts to influence American lawmakers.

According to Ratcliffe, the scale of China’s attempts to sway U.S. officials far surpasses any influence operations by Russia or Iran.

Ratcliffe asserted that the CCP’s covert push for pro-Beijing policies is a pressing threat to American interests.

The announcement of Ratcliffe’s new role at the CIA follows a series of recent cabinet and advisory appointments by Trump, including former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan as “border czar,” former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Republican Florida Rep. Mike Waltz as national security advisor. Each appointment underscores Trump’s commitment to his America First agenda, with a focus on national security and intelligence integrity.

If confirmed, Ratcliffe will be responsible for guiding the CIA’s operations under Trump’s renewed national security agenda.

His track record of confronting issues related to election interference, foreign influence, and global security matters positions him as a familiar figure in Trump’s administration, once again charged with upholding transparency and accountability within the intelligence community.

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