CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has selected John Ratcliffe to head the CIA.
Ratcliffe was high on the list of candidates for attorney general, people familiar with the matter told CNN. He currently co-chairs the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-affiliated think tank.
Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during the Trump administration’s first term in 2020 and 2021, is a critic who believes Trump is using the intelligence community to serve his political needs. For the house, his appointment was an important argument.
During his time as spy director, Ratcliffe released unconfirmed information about Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election, over the objections of members of the intelligence community. Critics claimed at the time that Mr. Ratcliffe was conducting intelligence work to help Mr. Trump politically as the 2020 presidential election approached.
President Trump praised Ratcliffe’s loyalty in a statement Tuesday. “From exposing the fake Russian collusion as a work of the Clinton campaign to exposing FBI abuses in FISA court, John Ratcliffe has always been a fighter for truth and integrity. Dear American public, .”
A CIA official told CNN on Tuesday that the agency is “committed to ensuring a smooth transition.”
President Trump originally nominated Ratcliffe to be director of national intelligence in 2019, but the Texas conservative declined after questions arose over his national security background and exaggerations about his party history. Trump renominated Ratcliffe in 2020 after he emerged as the president’s chief defender during the House’s initial impeachment proceedings. The Senate then approved him 49-44 along party lines.
Mr. Ratcliffe remained in office through the 2020 election and presidential transition, during which he personally told Mr. Trump and his allies that there was no evidence of foreign election interference or widespread fraud. Years later, he was forced to testify about that experience before a federal grand jury as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s criminal investigation after the 2020 election.
Mr. Ratcliffe represented Texas’ 4th Congressional District from 2015 to 2020 and held positions on the House Intelligence Committee and the Judiciary Committee.
This article has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Jeremy Herb and Alex Marquardt contributed to this report.
