Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats has resigned after disagreeing with President Donald Trump about a range of policy and intelligence issues. Trump has tapped Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe, a loyalist with limited experience in intelligence oversight, for the position.
Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem joined Boston Public Radio on Wednesday to discuss Ratcliffe's new role and what his nomination signifies about the Trump administration.
"This man [Ratcliffe] has no business being the head of ODNI," she said, referring to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. "He's never worked in the intelligence community. He's never run an agency. He has no gravitas, and the intelligence agencies will go to war with him. He has lied about his resume. There's just a clear issue that he has not been properly vetted, which is not uncommon for this White House."
Trump has nominated Ratcliffe on account of one thing only, which is that Ratcliffe is a skeptic that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, Kayyem added.
"He's a conspiracy theorist. His truth is that the entire Russian investigation is bogus," she sad. "The president believes it is going to be a struggle to get reelection. He needs Russia's help. So he is not going to stop Russian influence in terms of whether it's election security, or fake news or whatever else. The Trump administration welcomed Russia's help, they're continuing to do that and they will continue to do that for 2020. Ratcliffe will do that as the head of ODNI."
Kayyem said that Ratcliffe's nomination points toward a larger trend within the Trump administration focused on preparing for the 2020 election.
"This is all about 2020, to welcome Russian influence. There's no other way to interpret what they're doing," she said.
Juliette Kayyem is analyst for CNN, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
