US Intel Chief To Leave Trump Administration: W.G. Dunlop - Agence France-Presse - Washington, United States

US intel chief to leave Trump administration
W.G. Dunlop | Agence France-Presse | Washington, United States

Jakarta / Mon, July 29, 2019 / 10:20 am
In this file photo taken on February 13, 2018 Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testifies on
worldwide threats during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. US
intelligence chief Dan Coats will leave office on August 15, President Donald Trump announced on July
28, 2019, the latest high-profile departure from his turnover-plagued administration.Trump tweeted that he
plans to nominate Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas as the new Director of National Intelligence, and
thanked Coats (AFP/Saul Loeb)
US intelligence chief Dan Coats will leave office next month, Donald Trump
announced on Sunday, after a tenure in which he was regularly at odds with the
president.
The departure of Coats -- who has, however, sought to avoid direct confrontation
with Trump during his time as Director of National Intelligence -- is the latest
high-profile exit from the mercurial president's turnover-plagued administration.
Trump tweeted that Coats will leave on August 15, saying he plans to nominate
Representative John Ratcliffe of Texas, who serves on the House intelligence,
judiciary and homeland security committees, to replace him.
"A former U.S. Attorney, John will lead and inspire greatness for the Country he
loves," Trump wrote, also thanking Coats "for his great service to our Country."
If Ratcliffe's nomination is approved, Trump will get an intelligence chief who is
more in synch with his views.
In Congress, he has been a staunch defender of Trump and has criticized two of the
president's nemeses, former FBI chief James Comey and special counsel Robert
Mueller.
Ratcliffe has also said he has "seen no evidence" that Russian election meddling
helped bring Trump to office, has backed the president's assertion that court-
approved surveillance of his campaign amounted to spying, and has supported his
hawkish policy on Iran.
The choice of Ratcliffe was hailed by various Republicans -- including House
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who tweeted that he "will bring strength and
accountability in his new role" -- but drew criticism from other quarters.
"Our Director of National Intelligence should be above partisan politics, speak
truth to power, and resist Trump's abuses of authority. John Ratcliffe doesn't fit that
bill," Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren tweeted.
Coats has not seen eye-to-eye with Trump on a range of issues while serving as the
official who oversees and coordinates the CIA, NSA and other US espionage
bodies.
- Russia, N. Korea, IS -
He backed the US intelligence community's conclusion that Russia interfered in the
2016 election that brought Trump to office -- something the president was long
loath to acknowledge.
The intelligence chief also disagreed with Trump's decision to hold two hours of
closed-door talks with Russian President Vladmir Putin in Helsinki in July 2018
with no one else present but interpreters.
"If he had asked me how that ought to be conducted, I would have suggested a
different way," Coats said.
He acknowledged he was not informed about the contents of the talks, saying three
days after they were held: "I don't know what happened in that meeting."
Trump's attempts to get North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal via talks with
Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un was another point of disagreement.
"We continue to assess that North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear
weapons and production capabilities, even as it seeks to negotiate partial
denuclearization steps to obtain key US and international concessions," Coats said
in the annual "Worldwide Threat Assessment" report earlier this year.
North Korea's leaders see having a nuclear weapons capability as "critical to
regime survival," Coats said.
Trump, however, has taken the view that Kim is willing to give up his nuclear
arms.
The report also warned that the Islamic State (IS) group -- despite Trump's
assertions to the contrary -- was hardly vanquished and could easily rise again in a
vacuum left by departing US forces, resuming global attacks and restarting its
propaganda machine.
IS "still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria, and it maintains eight
branches, more than a dozen networks, and thousands of dispersed supporters
around the world, despite significant leadership and territorial losses," Coats said.
Coats's departure will be the latest in a long series of exits by top Trump
administration officials, including defense secretary Jim Mattis, homeland security
chief Kirstjen Nielsen, chief of staff John Kelly and top diplomat Rex Tillerson.

US Intel Chief To Leave Trump Administration: W.G. Dunlop - Agence France-Presse - Washington, United States

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US intel chief to leave Trump administration

W.G. Dunlop | Agence France-Presse | Washington, United States

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