Washington – John Ratcliffe is appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday as he seeks to lead the CIA in a second Trump administration.
Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman, served as Director of National Intelligence in the final months of President-elect Donald Trump's first term. At the time, Trump had initially chosen Ratcliffe to lead the nation's spy agencies in his first term, but he withdrew his name amid questions about his qualifications for the role. Months later, Trump again nominates Ratcliffe and the Senate confirmed it as Director of National Intelligence without the support of the Democrats.
In Congress, Ratcliffe served on the House Intelligence Committee and the House Judiciary Committee and was a staunch defender of Trump through his first impeachment and the Russian election interference investigation.
during his confirmation hearing In 2020, Ratcliffe vowed to provide “objective and timely” intelligence to senior policymakers and ensure it is “collected, analyzed and reported without bias, prejudice or political influence.” He also disagreed with Trump on whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election, but declined to take a position on what Russia's desired outcome would be.
Ratcliffe is considered a more traditional choice than some of Trump's choices for other roles, as he has already served in the Senate-confirmed position once and has also served in Congress.
As intelligence director, he was criticized by Democrats in the final days of the 2020 presidential election for accusing Russian intelligence of declassifying damaging information about Democrats during the 2016 race, although he acknowledged that it can not be true.
China is likely to be the central topic of Wednesday's hearing. In December 2020, Ratcliffe wrote that China “poses the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom around the world since World War II.” Ratcliffe, who was the country's spy chief at the time, said he shifted resources in the intelligence budget to give greater priority to China.
He wrote, “Beijing is preparing for an open-ended period of confrontation with the United States. Washington must also be prepared for leaders to understand the threat, talk openly about it, and take action to address it.” One must rise above divisions and work.”