Our nation needs an honest broker in the intelligence role, not a highly partisan conspiracy monger who would preside over the further dismantling of our intelligence community.
Since U.S. intelligence agencies exist to seek actionable information that is as close to the truth as possible, it follows that the person who heads our intelligence community should be a scrupulously honest seeker of apolitical facts. Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next director of national intelligence, isn’t that guy. The Senate will take up Ratcliffe’s nomination this week, with him testifying before the intelligence committee on Tuesday.
While many questions about Ratcliffe’s credentials already exist — he was previously nominated only to withdraw over questions about his bio — of serious ongoing concern is his social media history. Recent reporting by Spencer Ackerman and Will Sommer at The Daily Beast ties Ratcliffe, at least tangentially, to dangerous conspiracy theories on Twitter.
Ratcliffe, a three-term congressman, follows accounts that spew nonsense like “9/11 truther” falsehoods and at least four accountspromoting the infamous QAnon conspiracy theory claiming that the world is run by a cabal of Democratic pedophile cannibals — a set of beliefs ruled by the FBI to be a potential source of domestic terrorism. These aren’t just hypothetical theories premised on fragile notions. Rather, these fantastical fabrications are what those of us from the intelligence professions refer to as “cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs” insanity.
And there’s more. According to the Daily Beast report, Ratcliff’s campaign Twitter also follows conspiracy theorists that claim John F. Kennedy Jr. faked his death to help Trump take down the so-called Deep State, and that a Democratic sex dungeon sits within a Washington pizzeria. In Ratcliffe’s Twitter feed, there are accounts that portray Trump as a messianic figure ready to use our military and intelligence agencies to rid the nation of top Democrats.
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As for professional intelligence qualifications, Ratcliffe had even fewer than his resume embellishments. Federal law provides that “under ordinary circumstances, it is desirable” that either the director or the principal deputy director of national intelligence be an active-duty commissioned officer in the armed forces or have training or experience in military intelligence activities and requirements. The law also states that “any individual nominated for appointment as DNI shall have extensive national security expertise.” That’s not Ratcliffe, either. The Texas Republican was a small-town mayor and an assistant U.S. attorney before becoming a congressman.
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Figliuzzi: John Ratcliffe, Trump's DNI nominee, follows QAnon Twitter. That's disqualifying. @NBCNewsTHINK @NBCNews @MSNBC #ratcliffe #DNI https://t.co/fR3VtKEwbh
— Frank Figliuzzi (@FrankFigliuzzi1) May 6, 2020
No competent Administration would even consider someone like Ratcliffe for such an important position. He has no experience, is a partisan extremist, has difficulty with the truth, consorts with fringe conspiracy theorists, & never run a large organization. Otherwise… https://t.co/7EvzuRdkw7
— John Sipher (@john_sipher) May 5, 2020
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