Trump Taps Retired Navy Admiral As New DNI After Booting Career Official

PEARL HARBOR, HI - JULY 11:  During a memorial service held at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Naval Rear Admiral Joseph Maguire, Commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command (right) presents an award post humorously to Norminda Healy, wife of Daniel Richard Healy, a navy SEAL killed in action while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan, July 11, 2005.   (Photo by Marco Garcia/Getty Images)
HONOLULU - JULY 11: Naval Rear Admiral Joseph Maguire, Commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command (R) presents an award posthumously to Norminda Healy, wife of Daniel Richard Healy, during a memorial service held... HONOLULU - JULY 11: Naval Rear Admiral Joseph Maguire, Commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command (R) presents an award posthumously to Norminda Healy, wife of Daniel Richard Healy, during a memorial service held at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific July 11, 2005 in Honolulu, Hawaii . Daniel Healy, a Navy SEAL, was killed in action while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan. (Photo by Marco Garcia/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Just after President Donald Trump forced the retirement of Sue Gordan, a three-decade career official whom he deemed too close to former DNI Dan Coats, the President announced Thursday his pending nomination of retired Navy Admiral Joseph Maguire as the new DNI.

Though Maguire has not come up in the intelligence community, per the Washington Post, he is seen as at least a more reasonable choice that Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX), a rabid Trump partisan whose nomination collapsed last week.

However, there was reportedly a bipartisan groundswell of support for Gordon, Coats’ deputy, who is extremely experienced and well-respected. She said that she was “heartbroken” to step down.

Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Richard Burr (R-NC) called her retirement a “significant loss.”

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