Trump Names John Ratcliffe as CIA Director

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Ratcliffe served as director of national intelligence during the first Trump term.

President-elect Donald Trump has announced he has selected John Ratcliffe as director of the CIA.

“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions. He will be a fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans, while ensuring the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH,” Trump wrote in a message sent on the evening of Nov. 12, the latest in a flurry of Tuesday evening appointments.

Ratcliffe, an attorney, served as director of national intelligence during the first Trump term. He was previously a Republican congressman from Texas and an anti-terrorism and national security chief for Eastern Texas.

Originally from Illinois, Ratcliffe earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame before obtaining a law degree from Southern Methodist University. He was later U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas and, from 2004 until 2012, mayor of Heath, Texas, a community in metro Dallas-Fort Worth.

While in Congress, he was a member of the House Intelligence Committee and the House Judiciary Committee.

During Trump’s first term, Ratcliffe made a name for himself as a staunch Trump loyalist.

Trump dropped an early attempt to elevate Ratcliffe to the director of national intelligence position in 2019. But the following year, he renewed the effort, nominating him in May against the backdrop of the COVID-19 response.