Ratcliffe, Trump’s DNI Pick, Has Shown Very Little Interest In Spy Agencies

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 24: Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) questions former Special Counsel Robert Mueller as he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee about his report on Russian interference in the 2016 president... WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 24: Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) questions former Special Counsel Robert Mueller as he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee about his report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election in the Rayburn House Office Building July 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. Mueller, along with former Deputy Special Counsel Aaron Zebley, will later testify before the House Intelligence Committee in back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Rep. Daniel Ratcliffe (R-TX), President Donald Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence, has displayed relatively little interest in the spy agencies he’d oversee, never taking a House Intelligence Committee trip overseas to learn more about the agencies’ work.

According to the Washington Post, all the other new lawmakers on the committee have either made such trips already, or have them planned.

He also reportedly makes few trips to the “reading room” to catch up on classified information, and only puts in cursory appearances at closed-door meetings.

Multiple intelligence officials told the Post that they’d never even heard of Ratcliffe until his aggressive questioning of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller last week.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. displayed relatively little interest in the spy agencies he’d oversee

    And why would he, his mandate is to investigate those agencies, since some employees still have the audacity to be loyal Americans first and to stay out of politics

  2. Ratcliffe has no interest in anything but power.

    (Anybody else find it fitting that his surname is “Ratcliffe” – you know like “Rat going over a cliffe”… Karma appears to have a sense of humor.)

  3. The 'Dem
    and socialist ’ sign off during round one o f Muelle hearing was job clinched IMO

  4. I’d say his promotion to DNI is the Peter Principle at work – except that he was already completely useless as a member of Congress.

  5. Er, shouldn’t “Rep. Daniel Ratcliffe (D-TX)” actually be “Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX)”?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

40 more replies

Participants

Avatar for marincousa Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for old_curmudgeon Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for cervantes Avatar for becca656 Avatar for losamigos Avatar for thepsyker Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for lastroth Avatar for mrf Avatar for khaaannn Avatar for zlohcuc Avatar for lestat Avatar for lizzymom Avatar for jmacaz Avatar for uneducated Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for demosthenes59 Avatar for dangnewt Avatar for inthesedays Avatar for jwilloth Avatar for froggy88

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: