General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow John Ratcliffe Nailed His Audition to Become Trump's New Intelligence Chief
A week ago, Rep. John Radcliffe (R-Texas) was a largely anonymous congressman serving on the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees. On Sunday night, President Trump announced he would be nominating him to oversee Americas intelligence community, a position for which Ratcliffe is woefully under-qualified. Why? Look no further than Ratcliffes performance during former special counsel Robert Muellers testimony last Wednesday.
In lieu of asking questions of Mueller, Ratcliffe used his five minutes to make a show of excoriating Mueller for noting that the special counsel report did not exonerate Trump of obstruction of justice. Ratcliffe argued that, considering Mueller chose not to prosecute the president, it was outside of his legal purview to elaborate on a decision he chose not to make.
When Mueller tried to explain why the situation was unique, Ratcliffe cut him off and continued to rant. Donald Trump is not above the law. Hes not, Ratcliffe concluded with a flourish. But he damn sure shouldnt be below the law, which is where Volume 2 of this report puts him, Ratcliffe said.
Link to tweet
?s=20
It was exactly the kind of sound bite designed to earn plaudits from Trump. So too was his appearance on Fox News Sunday morning. Im not going to accuse any specific person of any specific crime, he told Maria Bartiromo. I just want there to be a fair process to get there. What I do know, as a former federal prosecutor, is, it does appear that there were crimes committed during the Obama administration.
Trump announced the nomination hours later. I am pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the Director of National Intelligence, Trump wrote on Twitter. A former U.S. Attorney, John will lead and inspire greatness for the Country he loves. Dan Coats, the current Director, will be leaving office on August 15th. I would like to thank Dan for his great service to our Country. The Acting Director will be named shortly.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/john-ratcliffe-national-intelligence-director-mueller-hearing-864639/
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)What an asshole.
What does trump mean by .... "The Acting Director will be named shortly. ???
mnhtnbb
(31,402 posts)that I started muting the sound when Republicans were on questioning Mueller. After about 20 minutes I turned the whole hearing off.
Ratcliffe was nothing more than a bloviating a$$hole. It is unfu*king believable that he is going to be named DNI. He's completely unqualified and putting him in that position is putting the security of the country at risk.
madaboutharry
(40,220 posts)Radcliffe is a reactionary throwback. He sounds like a John Bircher.
He also seems to have some of Trumps traits. Like lying about is achievements and qualifications.
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)The GOP is 100% in bed with America's enemies.