Trump Wants New DNI To ‘Rein’ In Intel Agencies That Have ‘Run Amok’

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 26: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press during a signing of a “safe third country” agreement in the Oval Office of the White House July 26, 2019 in Washington, DC. Th... WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 26: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press during a signing of a “safe third country” agreement in the Oval Office of the White House July 26, 2019 in Washington, DC. The U.S. and Guatemala signed the agreement to require asylum-seekers to request protection in Guatemala first. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

President Trump didn’t hide his intentions for hiring a Republican lawmaker to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence while speaking to the press on Tuesday.

He said he nominated Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) — who, among other things, thinks special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is linked to the Clinton Foundation — to “rein” in an intelligence community that he claims has “run amok” under Coats, an official who’s vociferously warned of Russia’s meddling efforts.

“I think that John Ratcliffe is going to do an incredible job if he gets approved, he’s gotta get approved, but I think he’ll do a great job, I hope he gets approved,” he told reporters Tuesday. “I think we need somebody like that, we need somebody strong that can really rein it in because, as I think you’ve all learned ,the intelligence agencies have run amok. They’ve run amok.”

Trump tends to undermine his own intelligence community when it comes to findings that Russia meddled in the 2016 election — and has even publicly accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denials of interference — because he feels it delegitimizes his win.

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