1/ We're now seeing the worst fears come true about appointing John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence. Remember: his first nomination went up in flames because he was the least qualified person to ever have a shot at the position. He lied about his credentials.
2/ Even Donald Trump conceded Ratcliffe was not vetterd properly for the job. DONALD TRUMP CONCEDED HE MADE A MISTAKE. That's how bad Ratcliffe's initial appointment was. But the impeachment hearings changed everything.
3/ Ratcliffe made it clear he was a rabid defender of the president at all costs. It was an obvious audition. Trump had placed Richard Grennell as DNI -- the only person less qualified than Ratcliffe to be appointed, and so he left the Senate with little choice but to accept him.
4/ Ratcliffe was confirmed 49-42. His predecessor, Dan Coats, was confirmed by 85-12 vote. It's tough to put into words how many red flags were raised about Ratcliffe, but now we're seeing why. And it's like we all forgot how this happened.
5/ Now Trump has the framing of the Intelligence Community behind him 2 weeks before an election. They can accurately say "the director of national intelligence says" x, y, and z about Hunter Biden or Joe Biden or whoever they want. It doesn't matter what the evidence is.
6/ The performance Ratcliffe just put on with Fox News is a great example. He refuses to confirm when the Hunter Biden emails are legit. Instead, he says he does not know if they are a Russian disinfo plot, saying the IC is not investigating that.
7/ Of course, it's tough to say what that even means. Ratcliffe has basically no intelligence background. He has so far spent most of his time authorizing selective documents releases, doing Fox interviews and blocking Democrats from intelligence briefings.
8/ Ratcliffe says one thing, the people working for him say another, and the rest of us are left wondering what the hell is going on. Ultimately, it's the Trump playbook: flood the zone, muddy the waters. Ratcliffe is an extraordinarily good tool in that regard.
END/ We should always be skeptical of intelligence officials. ALWAYS. But especially so now. I trust WSJ, NYT, WaPo far more than I trust Ratcliffe. He can go on Fox and speak in half-truths all day, but ultimately he has one goal: elect Trump. All of us should act accordingly.
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