Senate panel backs Trump’s pick to lead U.S. spy agencies

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday endorsed the confirmation of U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the nation’s top spy.

Following Tuesday’s party-line vote, Ratcliffe’s nomination must still be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. A floor vote has not yet been scheduled.

Tuesday’s vote came a day after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will serve as the Intelligence committee’s acting chairman while Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., steps aside amid an FBI investigation into his stock trades.

If confirmed, Ratcliffe will lead the nation’s 17 intelligence agencies as the director of national intelligence. He will be the first permanent spy chief since Dan Coats stepped down last August.

Trump nominated Ratcliffe, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, on the heels of Coats’ departure. The nomination was dropped amid concerns about his lack of experience and his overt partisan reputation. Ratcliffe was renominated this year.

Ratcliffe was elected to Congress in 2015 and also sits on the House Judiciary committee. He was one of the congressional members of Trump’s impeachment defense team.

In July 2018, Ratcliffe drew attention when he tore into former special counsel Robert Mueller about his investigation of Russian election interference and its possible coordination between the Kremlin and Trump’s campaign.

“It was not the special counsel’s job to conclusively determine Donald Trump’s innocence or to exonerate him because the bedrock principle of our justice system is a presumption of innocence. It exists for everyone, everyone is entitled to it, including sitting presidents,” Ratcliffe said during the House Judiciary hearing.

“You managed to violate every principle and the most sacred of traditions about prosecutors not offering extra prosecutorial analysis.”

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/19/senate-panel-backs-trumps-pick-to-lead-us-spy-agencies.html