Trump says Ratcliffe is no longer his pick for director of national intelligence

[George II]

Source: CNN

(CNN)President Donald Trump says Rep. John Ratcliffe will no longer be nominated as director of national intelligence to replace Dan Coats.

"Our great Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe is being treated very unfairly by the LameStream Media," Trump wrote on Twitter.

"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 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."

Trump privately voiced concern in recent days about Ratcliffe's ability to be confirmed as the next director of national intelligence, according to two people who spoke with him. Trump had been assured by allies before selecting Ratcliffe that he would be an easy pick, and so the president was surprised when Ratcliffe started facing issues from senators who had their own concerns.

This story is breaking and will be updated

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/02/politics/trump-ratcliffe-dni/index.html

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Here are the tweets:

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[not fooled]

1. Wow.

Was the opprobrium too much even for Hair Fuhrer?

Now the question is: will the next name put forth be someone worse or someone better?

Always an issue with this joker.

[woodsprite]

2. Considering it's Trump, you get three guesses, and your first two don't count. n/t

[Sane Floridian]

22. Hair Fuhrer

Brilliant!

[pecosbob]

3. I feel creepy if I start reading any of the responses

Makes me want to move to Mars.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Golly gee whiz.

Used a word salad of a half time Governor and failed VP candidate . Lamestreammedia. Golllllyy.

[madaboutharry]

5. No matter what the issue, Trump resorts to gaslighting.

It wasn't the fact that Trump was pressured into withdrawing Radcliffe's nomination because Radcliffe is a fraud, a liar, and woefully unqualified, no....Trump has to blame "The LameStream Media" for being so mean.

Dear Democratic Presidential Candidates, Please keep focused on what really matters. Thank You, madaboutharry.

[sheshe2]

18. Obviously he has a lot of gas to pass.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. If he can't stand the heat, get him out of the kitchen. Think

about how the GOP treated Hillary and Mueller.

The Fat One knows even his party would reject Ratcliffe.

[bucolic_frolic]

14. Please

Fix the spelling. Fat Hitler.

Thank you.

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

7. Make bank it will be someone worse

Wonder what rats were hiding in old Radcliffs closet?

[GulfCoast66]

8. Translation. He just got off the phone with McConnell.

And was told no. The intelligence committee was not going to vote him thru.

Expect an explosion in a few hours.

[Turbineguy]

9. He was too qualified.

In trump terms.

[Hortensis]

10. "Rather than going through months of slander and libel...."

I imagine it was actually half an hour of hard truths and then the rest of the time angrily storming and fighting reality presented by various individuals and delegations before giving in.

[dalton99a]

11. He broke Rule #1 - "Nobody can brag more than Donald Trump"

[BootinUp]

12. LOL@Ratcliffe. Nt

[Phoenix61]

13. Wonder which allies assured him Ratcliffe

would be an easy pick? Guess it will be the one who needs to spend more time with his family.

[Astraea]

15. Aw, Trumpy's feelings got hurt by the LameStream Media.

Next!

[jmowreader]

16. Ratcliiffe wasn't corrupt enough?

[oasis]

17. Returning my case of unopened popcorn to COSTCO.

[vlyons]

19. He can't tolerate the failure of Republican senators voting Ratcliffe down

nt

[Chrysanthemum]

21. Bingo! (nt)

[iluvtennis]

20. The "LameStream Media" had nothing to do with it. Ratcliffe is UNQUALIFIED, plain and simple. nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. Yes, Ratcliffe is unqualified. So what?

It had to be something else that caused Trump to drop Ratcliffe. "Unqualified" would not affect Trump's decision process.

[keithbvadu2]

23. Blames the media for his unqualified bootlicker.

Blames the media for his unqualified bootlicker.

[llmart]

25. What a childish response from a President.

"Lamestream Media" - Really? What are you? Ten years old?

Honestly, I don't know how much more of this embarrassment I can take.

[Mc Mike]

26. Rump knows all the best people. He hires all the best.

Also, I'm sure the evil lamestream media isn't going to put the replacement nominee through 'months of slander and libel and make things miserable for them and their family'. This was a one-off.

[underpants]

27. This is one sentence with two commas

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 John has therefore decided to stay in Congress where he has done such an outstanding job representing the people of Texas, and our Country.

[Ilsa]

28. Mulvaney gets replaced in 3..2..1..

Mulvaney picked Ratcliffe when he should have picked a sure-thing like Rep. Will Hurd.

[pangaia]

29. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

stupid fuck

[mahatmakanejeeves]

30. Washington Post opinion: "Another Trump nominee goes down in flames. This is a big one."

The Plum Line • Opinion

Another Trump nominee goes down in flames. This is a big one.

By Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent
August 2 at 4:13 PM

Well, that certainly didn’t take long:

President Trump announced Friday that Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Tex.), his embattled pick to lead the nation’s intelligence community, was withdrawing from consideration and would remain in Congress.

The lawmaker was facing intense questions about padding his résumé and a lack of experience, which led to a lukewarm reception on Capitol Hill.

Trump said he would announce a new pick for director of national intelligence shortly.

In tweets, Trump said that Ratcliffe was being treated “very unfairly” by the media.

The fault, as always, lies with Trump’s opponents and the media. The “unfair” treatment to which Trump refers was likely this story in The Post, which showed that Ratcliffe’s claims about his experience were seriously exaggerated.

Ratcliffe had asserted that “as a U.S. Attorney, I arrested over 300 illegal immigrants on a single day.” But that was false: He didn’t arrest them; the relevant operation ended up charging only 45 poultry workers with low-level offenses; and people involved in it “could not recall Ratcliffe playing a central role.”

This comes after stories showing that his claims to have tried terrorism cases were also inflated.

The office of DNI has only existed since 2005, and before Trump’s election had been filled by people with long careers of service in the military, the intelligence world or both. President George W. Bush appointed Mike McConnell, a Navy vice admiral who had been the director of the National Security Agency. President Barack Obama appointed James R. Clapper Jr., an Air Force lieutenant general who had run the Defense Intelligence Agency.

But those claims of Ratcliffe’s work stoppin’ terrorists and ropin’ illegals were almost the entirety of his qualifications for the job, other than six months sitting on the House Intelligence Committee.
....

Paul Waldman is an opinion writer for the Plum Line blog. Follow https://twitter.com/paulwaldman1

Greg Sargent writes The Plum Line blog. He joined The Post in 2010, after stints at Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine and the New York Observer. Follow https://twitter.com/theplumlinegs

[Cirque du So-What]

31. Since when has he let the media stop him from doing anything?

More likely, some dirt has been found that is too egregious to overlook.

[Mersky]

32. So, then,,, hehhhh....GOPers don't have to think about keeping the district (R)ed

Texas already has three Rs not running for reelection. tRumpers need to be able to ride on incumbencies like ratcliffe's. This way they won't have to shuffle, launder, lavish or rathole money around the state as much for the open seats. Perhaps won't get as many questions about income disparity in the 4th district, or current states of its superfund sites, etc.

I'll breathe a little easier until the next unqualified, partisaned-to-hell hack is nominated for DNI.

[Ford_Prefect]

33. They are scraping the bottom of the bottom of the bottom...

and Moscow Mitch will sing the praises of anyone willing to show up for the job.