Patterico's Pontifications

8/2/2019

Trump’s Pick For Director Of National Intelligence Will Remain In Congress (ADDED)

Filed under: General — Dana @ 4:00 pm



[guest post by Dana]

President Trump made the announcement while simultaneously defending Ratcliffe and blaming the media:

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….

….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.

Ratcliffe’s statement:

“I do not wish for a national security and intelligence debate surrounding my confirmation, however untrue, to become a purely political and partisan issue. The country we all love deserves that it be treated as an American issue.”

This comes on the heels of a report in the Washington Post which suggested that Ratcliffe’s level and scope of experience wasn’t quite what he had claimed.

Maybe Trump should consider Will Hurd as a replacement…

ADDED: Trump provides a fuller look at how he views the vetting process and how the media plays a part in it:

…on the South Lawn, he suggested coverage of his nominees was part of the vetting process.

“I get a name, I give it out to the press and you vet for me. A lot of time you do a very good job. Not always,” Trump told reporters. “If you look at the vetting process for the White House, it is very good, but you are part of the vetting process. I give out a name to the press and you vet for me, we save a lot of money that way.”

“But in the case of John, I really believe that he was being treated very harshly and very unfairly,” he added.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

52 Responses to “Trump’s Pick For Director Of National Intelligence Will Remain In Congress (ADDED)”

  1. Okay then.

    Dana (fdf131)

  2. Frankly I don’t want a lawyer in that job. Very few lawyers can operate a non-law business. I’ve never seen one succeed and the way they fail is by tying everyone up in rules and micromanagement of things beyond their ken. You haven’t lived until you see a corporate attorney trying to suggest changes to a 500,000 gate custom chip just before tape-out.

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  3. Trump’s probem is that the Democrats all hate him and most of the Republicans with experience don’t work because either they hate him or he hates them.

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  4. Amazing. I totally get DCSCA’s popcorn chomping mentality at times like this.

    Foreign policy and national security are Trump’s second worst area (second to budgets of course). We won’t be laughing when we pay the price for Carter 2.0. Imagine filling such a role because someone kissed your ass. I wouldn’t pick a guy to mow my lawn on that basis.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  5. “I give out a name to the press and they vet for me. We save a lot of money that way.” Sigh.

    Nic (896fdf)

  6. The SSCI were never going to back Ratcliffe. ODNI man on the way out, Coates, used to sit on that useless committee. With Ratcliffe being on the opposite side of Mitch and the boys, he was never going to be confirmed.

    mg (8cbc69)

  7. Trump will be forced to nominate whoever it was Rosenstein suggested earlier. What a disaster the republican senate is.

    mg (8cbc69)

  8. WaPo provided cover for Clapper, who lied under oath, but the statute of limitations has expired so he’s available again. That should garner a thumbs up from NeverTrump.

    Munroe (4bb078)

  9. “I wouldn’t pick a guy to mow my lawn on that basis.”

    https://youtu.be/Qh0BiWk2KV8

    Colonel Haiku (951ecf)

  10. @4. Give ‘The Rat’ credit where credit is due: he was an unqualified dunce for this gig and he knew it.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  11. All the other Orange-utan are looking at this guy and saying “moron”.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  12. On one side of his mouth, Trump is calling MSM an Enemy of the People and FakeNews, and on the other side of his mouth he’s saying to the press “you vet for me” and that they’re saving the government money.
    Fortunately, a good audition in a hearing just isn’t good enough for a guy who accomplished little in the House and who padded his resume.

    Paul Montagu (abf2de)

  13. This is from Jim Acosta:

    A full vet was not done on Ratcliffe, source familiar with the DNI selection process says. The source compared Ratcliffe to selection of Dr. Ronny Jackson for VA Secretary: both men were selected by Trump after performing to his liking on TV. But they weren’t properly vetted.

    Yes, it’s Acosta, but this fits Trump to a T, and I think that he is someone who values and trusts his gut instincts even more than he would the results of a proper vetting. And certainly more than what his advisers might say. I don’t have any problem believing this.

    Unfortunately, when his gut instincts betray him, he doesn’t recognize that as indicating he may not be the best judge of character, nor whether the candidate is the best person for the job. It’s critical to do the deep dive and fully vet because no one can make such an assessment without being fully informed about that which they are assessing. Feeling good about someone because they’ve flattered you is perhaps the worst reason to go with them. He will not learn from this.

    Dana (fdf131)

  14. Yes, it’s Acosta, but this fits Trump to a T, and I think that he is someone who values and trusts his gut instincts even more than he would the results of a proper vetting.

    Ready!

    Fire!

    Aim!

    Dave (1bb933)

  15. ADDED: Trump provides a fuller look at how he views the vetting process and how the media plays a part in it:

    …on the South Lawn, he suggested coverage of his nominees was part of the vetting process.

    “I get a name, I give it out to the press and you vet for me. A lot of time you do a very good job. Not always,” Trump told reporters. “If you look at the vetting process for the White House, it is very good, but you are part of the vetting process. I give out a name to the press and you vet for me, we save a lot of money that way.”

    “But in the case of John, I really believe that he was being treated very harshly and very unfairly,” he added.

    Dana (fdf131)

  16. Unfortunately, when his gut instincts betray him, he doesn’t recognize that as indicating he may not be the best judge of character, nor whether the candidate is the best person for the job. It’s critical to do the deep dive and fully vet because no one can make such an assessment without being fully informed about that which they are assessing. Feeling good about someone because they’ve flattered you is perhaps the worst reason to go with them. He will not learn from this.

    Why should he learn?

    He has conditioned his cultists to treat every incident exposing his ignorance, incompetence and unfitness as validation of their own persecution complex.

    Dave (1bb933)

  17. “I get a name, I give it out to the press and you vet for me. A lot of time you do a very good job. Not always,” Trump told reporters. “If you look at the vetting process for the White House, it is very good, but you are part of the vetting process. I give out a name to the press and you vet for me, we save a lot of money that way.”

    He’s more or less giving the MSM a veto on his appointments, isn’t he?

    Kishnevi (eb30e0)

  18. We already knew he was getting the names from Hannity or Fox & Friends, so this latest admission just fills in the rest of the picture.

    Dave (1bb933)

  19. The sainted Mueller could not be taken down a peg, this is how they get back at you? And the fact un canalla like acosta would have the nerve to cite ronnie Jackson who was defamed by
    Jon tester is telling

    Narciso (72d34b)

  20. I can’t get worked up about this. If Trump didn’t like Coats he wouldn’t have selected him, and kept him for 2.5 years. The most important thing is to get someone in thee that will declassify the necessary documents.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  21. The important thing is to NEVER reward the Republican Senators who have stabbed TRump in the back on every nomination. That means no one proposed by Mittens, Burr, Collins, Murkoswki, etc. should EVER get a White house job.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  22. Well besides the fact they targeted the entire intelligence and law enforcement infrastructure on him based on the Steele dossier the kavalec memo and other flimsy material that Rosenstein was a party to this well just a minor incinvenience

    Narciso (72d34b)

  23. On one side of his mouth, Trump is calling MSM an Enemy of the People and FakeNews, and on the other side of his mouth he’s saying to the press “you vet for me”

    Oh, but there’s a difference. They’re “Enemies of the People” if they say bad things about Trump. It’s a whole other story if they say bad things about other people.

    Radegunda (3578a5)

  24. @21 and 22. No, the important thing is to get someone in who knows what the H E double hockeysticks they are doing, regardless of how much of a Trump loyalist they may or may not be. Incompetent loyalists will just ef up the job.

    Nic (896fdf)

  25. Has there ever been an outsider, non-Ivy League, non-White Anglo Saxon Protestant, Director of Central/National Intelligence?

    Not entirely unrelated, who you supposed is charged with terminating the President’s term with extreme prejudice in the event he refuses to surrender power when his term expires, he loses an election, is impeached, or goes gaga?

    nk (dbc370)

  26. *who do you suppose*

    nk (dbc370)

  27. Has there ever been an outsider, non-Ivy League, non-White Anglo Saxon Protestant, Director of Central/National Intelligence?

    Well, Gina Haspel is 2 of 3, She’s from a middle class family in Kentucky, went to UK and UofL, and started out as a low level CIA reports officer. She’s a lady, which is a big change too.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  28. And Pompeo before her. But the Director of the CIA had already been supplanted as top spook –Director of Central Intelligence, a position he held concurrently with Director of the CIA — by the creation of a separate and superior Director of National Intelligence as of 2005.

    nk (dbc370)

  29. Not entirely unrelated, who you supposed is charged with terminating the President’s term with extreme prejudice in the event he refuses to surrender power when his term expires, he loses an election, is impeached, or goes gaga?

    Although it might make good grist for a Tom Clancy novel, the CIA has no domestic portfolio.

    I imagine the task of removing an unauthorized intruder from the White House would fall to the Secret Service, who would owe their loyalty to, and take their lawful orders from, the legitimate president.

    The military would be in the same position, and could also handle it under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. A drumhead court-martial and firing squad in the Rose Garden would give everyone a reassuring sense of closure.

    Dave (1bb933)

  30. DNI is not “a spook”. The chief spook is still the D/CIA.

    And if you’re including DNI, the only DNI that was an Ivy League’r was John Negroponte, all the others are common WASPy men, either from the military academies or from public schools.

    The ODNI is one of the smallest agencies in the entire federal government, with less than 2k employees, nearly all in back office functions like IT, HR, IG, etc. The closest they actually get to being spies is to owning the NCC, which is staffed out of CIA, DoD, DoJ, NSA, DoE…

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  31. You’re right, of course, Dave, I did not mean to suggest otherwise.

    nk (dbc370)

  32. It’s another makework coordinator courtesy of the 9/11 commission report, can you name anything good that came out of it

    Narciso (72d34b)

  33. O-kay.

    nk (dbc370)

  34. This app are to be some very good news…

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/337869/

    Colonel Haiku (951ecf)

  35. They were ready to ready to railroad him coronello like with Clint lorance,

    Narciso (72d34b)

  36. Eighteen years into this multi front war, the best fighters are sidelined as it was with Vietnam nearly 50 years. So the only people that get attention are malcontents like John Kerry, who walks over the bodies of good men and women to his next close up denouncing them

    Narciso (72d34b)

  37. The PBS Newshour made a big deal over the number of Trump nominees who had to be withdrawn. I don’t see this as a big deal. How many people were harmed by the withdrawal of a bunch of nominees? None (except maybe the nominees themselves.) But, whatever Trump does is wrong, according to the mainstream media.
    P.S. maybe Democrats deserve some of the blame for the many nominee withdrawals. Maybe they’re applying different standards to Trump than Republicans did to Obama’s nominees.

    David in Cal (0d5a1d)

  38. This would be hilarious if it weren’t so pathetic. I really thought the Senate would rubber stamp Ratcliffe, just because the Republicans have stuck their head so far up Trump’s butt they can’t think.

    It will be interesting to see if Ratcliffe can win re-election after this debacle.

    Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1)

  39. They werent anymore ethical in 1973:

    https://spectator.org/grand-jury-secrecy-and-jerry-nadler/

    Narciso (72d34b)

  40. I can’t get worked up about this.

    rcocean (1a839e) — 8/2/2019 @ 6:32 pm

    Why would anyone get worked up about it? Nothing happened, as usual. It’s just a clumsy fail from the least accomplished and most expensive admin in modern American history. Frauds who make up their accomplishments only do that because they don’t know how to accomplish stuff (for example, building a wall).

    Dustin (6d7686)

  41. Why would anyone get worked up about it?

    Yeah, especially since the RINO’s and Democrats in Congress don’t care about the country, have failed miserly to stop Trump, and will destroy the USA if they ever get enough power. Fortunely, they’re power is more or less limited to stopping qualified men from being the DNI Director which no one cares about.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  42. @41 see I can do that too. In future, just save everyone’s time and write “Orange Man Bad” or “Republicans are terrible”.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  43. well he prosecuted terrorists and illegals, so that’s two no nos’

    narciso (d1f714)

  44. Somebody got his lawn mowed.

    Colonel Haiku (951ecf)

  45. Actually I need to do that but it’s effing hot right now.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  46. Rain got me out of that a few minutes ago, now it will be more humid.

    urbanleftbehind (847a06)

  47. Ugh. It’s a hundred and hell degrees here. The lawn will be there tomorrow.

    P.S. rcocean,

    In future, just save everyone’s time and write “Orange Man Bad” or “Republicans are terrible”.

    You do get that that isn’t the motive for posts that reflect poorly on Trump, right? Those are simply accounts of Trump reflecting poorly on Trump.

    Dana (fdf131)

  48. Well ignoring contrary evidence like that the federalist found,

    Narciso (72d34b)

  49. Hot there?!? Try going to your granddaughter’s 5th Bday party in the hills of Riverside, backyard has a western exposure, 107degrees, beautiful view, spectacular pool filled with kids who’ve undoubtedly turned it into soup.

    It was Hell.

    Colonel Haiku (951ecf)

  50. Col,

    See new post.

    Dana (fdf131)

  51. Reasons why Ratcliffe is not qualified to be DNI explained here.

    DRJ (15874d)


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