(BREAKING 8/2 : Trump withdraws Ratcliffe nomination)
The briefest exposure to the thing would- be despot Donald "Not Exonerated" Trump wants to place in the Director of National Intelligence position should give any rational person the hives. Far- right conspiracy huckster Rep. John "Emphasis On The First Syllable" Ratcliffe (R- Trump's Colon) has clearly demonstrated his bona fides to Trump by being:
(a) a shameless Trump enabler and defender eager to do what he's told;
(b) a résumé fluffer with no intelligence background and a hostile, "Deep State" conspiracy nut; and
(c) see (a) above.
In other words, he'd be a good fit in Trump's cabinet of grifters, liars, sycophants and incompetents.
It would also appear that Trump has a very specific mission for Ratcliffe should he become DNI:
Trump’s choice of Republican Representative John Ratcliffe of Texas as the next director of national intelligence, has been greeted with scant enthusiasm by his fellow Republicans and charges by former intelligence officials and Democrats that he is unqualified and will frame intelligence to suit the president. [snip]
“I think we need somebody like that in there,” he [Trump] continued. “We need somebody strong that can rein it in. Because, as I think you’ve all learned, the intelligence agencies have run amok. They have run amok.” (our emphasis)This position, unlike almost any other in this rat- infested regime, is one that must never be filled by a political hack like Ratcliffe, who can be counted on to tell Trump what he wants to hear and not what he should hear. Great damage has already been done by Trump in undercutting our intelligence community by his self- serving slanders and finger- pointing. Putting a Trumpist cipher like Ratcliffe in a position to carry out a political purge of our intelligence apparatus, to the benefit of Trump and his Russian handlers, constitutes a clear and present danger to our country. Stopping this transparent power grab is of the highest priority.
BONUS: Greg Sargent asks the cogent question --
A major political battle is taking shape, and at its core is a key question: Can President Trump and his loyalists continue to organize large swaths of the government around the single, overarching goal of shielding his corruption, misconduct and wrongdoing from any and all accountability?
BONUS II: Intelligence community alumni weigh in --
Ratcliffe would be the first DNI without significant intelligence or ambassadorial experience. Dan Coats has done superbly the main thing a DNI must do: present the collective view of the intelligence community in a fair, objective, and non-partisan way. https://t.co/eHLduVPSq0— john mclaughlin (@jmclaughlinSAIS) July 29, 2019
Dan Coats served ably & with deep integrity. Ratcliffe showed abject subservience to Trump in Mueller hearings. The women & men in the Intelligence Community deserve a leader like Coats who puts nation first; not a servile Trump loyalist like Ratcliffe. https://t.co/fbYgS3MoOM— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) July 29, 2019
“I think we have a combination of too partisan and not qualified, those two are a dangerous combination… When you appoint someone like Ratcliffe you run into the true risk of fake news getting to the White House” - @FrankFigliuzzi1 w/ @jheil pic.twitter.com/VNzf04pdL7— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) July 29, 2019
Ratcliffe’s record **literally** went from “put terrorists behind bars” to “investigated side issues related to an initial mistrial, and did not prosecute the case either in that proceeding or in a successful second trial.”— Ned Price (@nedprice) July 31, 2019
That’s truly next level.
https://t.co/nmQ2FThqgL
It terrifies me. This job need to be the most non-partisan job in Washington. Nut jobs and liars need not apply. https://t.co/mqmS5Vdlbv— John Sipher (@john_sipher) July 31, 2019
Trump is consolidating his personal control over the intelligence community. Between loyalists Barr and Radcliffe, and pliant CIA and FBI directors, Trump is close to neutralizing intelligence and law enforcement as spoilers in his bid to amass unprecedented executive power. https://t.co/gFjO717upb— Rolf Mowatt-Larssen (@AmericanMystic) July 28, 2019
UPDATE: It's getting even more ominous, as it appears a purge is about to begin.
