President Trump announced Friday that Rep. John Ratcliffe is no longer his pick to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence.
The move comes less than a week after he announced that the Texas Republican was his choice. Ratcliffe, 53, gained favor with Trump after his intense grilling of former special counsel Robert Mueller during his testimony before Congress.
“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,” Trump tweeted about the Texas Republican.
“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,” he added.
….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.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2019
Ratcliffe released a statement Friday following Trump’s announcement.
