Republican Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe will not be the next Director of National Intelligence after all, President Donald Trump announced Friday on Twitter.
Trump said Ratcliffe withdrew after realizing how difficult his senate confirmation process would be. (RELATED: Ratcliffe To Replace Coats As Director Of National Intelligence)
“I explained to John how miserable it would be for him and his family to deal with these people,” Trump said. “John has therefore decided to stay in Congress where he has done such an outstanding job representing the people of Texas, and our Country. I will be announcing my nomination for DNI shortly.”
Our great Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe is being treated very unfairly by the LameStream Media. Rather than going through months of slander and libel, I explained to John how miserable it would be for him and his family to deal with these people….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2019
Ratcliffe’s nomination had received harsh criticism from Senate Democrats, who accused the Trump administration of attempting to politicize the intelligence community.
Ratcliffe has emerged as a staunch ally of the president in Congress, criticizing House Democrats for continuing to investigate for Trump, even after special counsel Robert Mueller failed to find evidence of collusion between Trump and the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election.
‘While I am and will remain very grateful to the President for his intention to nominate me as Director of National Intelligence, I am withdrawing from consideration,” Ratcliffe said. “I was humbled and honored that the President put his trust in me to lead our nation’s intelligence operations and remain convinced that when confirmed, I would have done so with the objectivity, fairness and integrity that our intelligence agencies need and deserve.”
Before withdrawing, Ratcliffe had been set to replace former Republican Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, who served as Director of National Intelligence for the first two and a half years of Trump’s presidency.