John Ratcliffe testified Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., with previous committee leader Mark Warner, D-Va., now serving as vice chairman.
As director, Ratcliffe would oversee one of America’s most powerful intelligence institutions. The CIA governs America’s human-centered foreign intelligence collection, as well as covert action operations — like influence campaigns — to advance U.S. security interests.
“We will collect intelligence — especially human intelligence — in every corner of the globe, no matter how dark or difficult. We will produce insightful, objective, all-source analysis, never allowing political or personal biases to cloud our judgement or infect our products,” Ratcliffe said in his opening statement. “We will conduct covert action at the direction of the president, going places no one else can go and doing things no one else can do.”
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft introduced Ratcliffe, touting his background in various congressional committees and as a prosecutor from Texas. He said Ratcliffe brings a “relevant reservoir” of experience to the role.
“He understands the intelligence community exists to secure the liberties and freedoms” of Americans, Ashcroft said.
Top of mind was whether Ratcliffe would be able to remain apolitical. As the leading U.S. spy chief in Trump’s first term, he drew controversy over perceived politicization of intelligence assessments.
Shortly before the 2020 election, he declassified a CIA memo alleging Russian intelligence suggested Hillary Clinton devised a plan during the 2016 campaign to link Trump to Russia’s ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
