Thread by @jeremyherb

The Senate's first socially distanced hearing is about to begin with the confirmation hearing for @RepRatcliffe to be DNI before Senate Intel.

I'll be (remotely) covering all the developments with @ZcohenCNN here cnn.com/2020/05/05/pol…

BURR rocking the coronavirus beard (!)

Burr notes that Ratcliffe's family, normally a staple of confirmation hearings, are not in attendance today. He sends his thanks via @cspan

Warner notes before he begins his opening statement that he would not be able to grow such a beard...

Warner's opener: "What we have seen from the President, ever since he came into office, is an unrelenting and undeserved political attack upon the professional women and men of our intel agencies...because unvarnished truth and unembellished analysis are not welcome in this WH."

Warner criticizes Ric Grenell, the acting DNI, for his moves upon taking the post, before turning to Ratcliffe: "Some have suggested that your main qualification for confirmation to this post is that you are not Ambassador Grenell. But frankly, that's not enough."

Burr says John Ashcroft was supposed to introduce Rep. Ratcliffe. Instead, Sen. John Cornyn, an Intel member, is reading excerpts of Ashcroft's letter

Burr says it's his intention to move to a committee vote on Ratcliffe's nomination "as soon as possible"

Ratcliffe's view of a very strange Senate hearing room (via livestream)

Burr starts off by asking Ratcliffe about the IC inspector general -- who was fired by Trump earlier this year over his role in the Ukraine whistleblower complaint

Burr says that the Senate Intel's fifth -- and FINAL -- volume on Russian election interference is done. Now it has to go out to ODNI for declassification, and Burr asks Ratcliffe to move it expeditiously if confirmed

Warner says the committee's final Russia report, which addresses collusion questions, among a lot of other topics is 1,000 pages long

Warner presses Ratcliffe on the ICA finding Russia preferred Trump.

Ratcliffe responds saying he has no reason to dispute the Senate's finding agreeing with the ICA -- or the House's disputing that finding: "I respect both committees, but I have not seen the underlying intel."

Wyden pushes Ratcliffe on sending complaints to Congress, when he just says he would follow the law.

"You want to have it both ways. You want to try to portray yourself as a defender of the Constitution and then you water it down with the specifics," Wyden said.

Sen. King asks Ratcliffe to name an issue where he disagreed with Trump. Ratcliffe cites the President's decision to withdraw troops from Syria last year.

"Any other incidents" King follows.

"I'm sure there are," Ratcliffe says but says he can't recall right now.

The dispute over intel and the origins of the coronavirus plays out during Ratcliffe's hearing.

King asks Ratcliffe if he's seen intel the virus originated in a lab. He says he has not.

Cotton then asks if he's seen intel the virus originated in a market. He says he has not.

Bennet asks Ratcliffe about the President saying IC "run amok when he nominated him. "Do you think the intelligence agencies have run amok?" Bennet asks. "No," Ratcliffe says.

Ratcliffe is less direct on whether the comments have an impact on IC morale. "I hope not," he says.

Sen. Reed (Intel ex officio as top D on SASC), goes around the world w/ Q's on North Korea and Iran.

Ratcliffe doesn't answer Q on whether Iran was in compliance w/ JCPOA when Trump withdrew: "I’m not sure. I don’t know technically if they were out of compliance at the time."

Burr wraps up the public portion of the hearing, suggesting "when you're confirmed" to think about not just reorganization of ODNI, but of the IC to address technological changes.

The committee is meeting in a classified setting with Ratcliffe this afternoon.

Here's our full story w/ @ZcohenCNN on the Ratcliffe confirmation hearing, where he was pressed on whether he can give the President intel he doesn't want to hear and on the origins of the coronavirus in China cnn.com/2020/05/05/pol…