Trump picks former Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe to head CIA

President-elect Donald Trump has named John Ratcliffe as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under his next administration. Ratcliffe is a loyal ally of the Republican leader who served as director of National Intelligence between 2020 and 2021 during Trump's first term.

Prior to his experience as Intelligence director, Ratcliffe represented the fourth district of Texas in Congress from 2015 to 2020, becoming one of the most conservative members of the House of Representatives at the time.

In the official statement, the president-elect highlighted his ally's work as director of National Intelligence and praised his "honesty" in denouncing to the American public the malpractices of the spy and security agencies.

"From exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation, to catching the FBI’s abuse of Civil Liberties at the FISA Court, John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public," Trump said in a statement. "When 51 intelligence officials were lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop, there was one, John Ratcliffe, telling the truth to the American People."

Ratcliffe earned Trump's trust several years ago when he became one of the boldest critics of former special prosecutor Robert Mueller and his biased report on Russia's unproven efforts to influence the 2016 election.

"For these and many other reasons, it was my great honor in 2020 to award John the National Security Medal, the Nation's highest honor for distinguished achievement in the field of Intelligence and National Security," the president-elect added, who in recent hours announced several more appointments to his incoming administration and cabinet.

"I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions. He will be a fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans, while ensuring the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH," Trump stated.

Ratcliffe's appointment as head of the CIA demonstrates Trump's interest in placing allies in key positions to maintain control of the entire government.

In the past, Trump has accused the CIA of acting against him, so having Ratcliffe, a critic of Intelligence agencies for their bias on certain issues, as head of the agency looks like life insurance for the president-elect in terms of trust.

Ratcliffe, moreover, would probably have the votes to be ratified in a Republican-led Senate. Four years ago, when he had little experience in the intelligence world, he had no trouble being confirmed as director of National Intelligence.

Ratcliffe also has a long history of public service. From 2004 to 2012, he was mayor of Heath, Texas, and between May 2007 and April 2008, he served as acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.

According to various reports, Ratcliffe was considered for the position of CIA chief and was on the list of possible candidates for attorney general.

Ratcliffe is currently co-chair of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute, an organization founded and staffed by Trump-linked advisers and experts that has been a rival to the Biden-Harris administration in recent years.

If ratified in the Senate, Ratcliffe will play the difficult role between being loyal to the president and leading one of the agencies with the most career civil servants, who are accustomed to giving little accountability to the administration and who pride themselves on "speaking truth to power."