Pelosi blasts Trump pick: He has shown ‘clear disrespect’ for intel community

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) issued a statement following President Trump’s nomination of Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) as director of national intelligence (DNI), saying he has shown “ a clear disrespect and distrust” of the intelligence community. 

Ratcliffe, a former U.S. prosecutor and member of both the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees, was one of the president’s fiercest defenders during former special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe and the House impeachment hearings in the fall. 

In doing so, Ratcliffe was aggressive while questioning fact-witness career diplomats who testified before the Intelligence Committee regarding Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Republican members of the committee often yielded their time to Ratcliffe and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who questioned the diplomats’ political motivations and furthered conspiracy theories, such as suggesting Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.

“Intelligence should never be guided by partisanship or politics. Unfortunately, Congressman Ratcliffe has shown an unacceptable embrace of conspiracy theories and a clear disrespect and distrust of our law enforcement and intelligence patriots that disqualify him from leading America’s intelligence community,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Trump had initially nominated Ratcliffe in July, but withdrew from consideration weeks later amid media scrutiny that he exaggerated on his résumé, along with bipartisan concerns about his experience.

“Last summer, this nomination was withdrawn after revelations about Congressman Ratcliffe’s clear lack of qualifications and many misleading statements about his resume,” Pelosi added. “The President is now ignoring these many serious outstanding concerns and letting politics, not patriotism, guide our national security.”

Richard Grenell, who has served as U.S. ambassador to Germany, is acting DNI. Ratcliffe will head to the Senate for confirmation, and if approved, would succeed Dan Coats, a former Indiana senator who was appointed at the beginning of the Trump administration and left in August 2019.

Updated: 8:53 p.m.