Sen. Collins: Grenell 'does not have' experience to oversee intelligence
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Feb 27, 2020
Maguire was the acting DNI but Trump removed him for Grenell after a controversial briefing to the Democratic-held House that suggested Russian Federation was working to meddling in the 2020 election to support Trump.
Schiff also claimed that Trump "fired, quot; Joseph Maguire last week as acting national intelligence director to "inform Congress, quot; about Russia's electoral interference".
In the time since that debacle unfolded, Ratcliffe has remained a faithful ally of Trump and was one of the members of Congress who Trump mentioned in his victory speech after his Senate impeachment acquittal.
"Undisclosed work for a foreign politician would ordinarily pose a problem for anyone applying for a security clearance or a job in a US intelligence agency because it could make the person susceptible to foreign influence or blackmail, according to the official policy from the office that Trump tapped Grenell to lead", writes ProPublica's Isaac Arnsdorf.
Nevertheless, information experiences quickly disclosed that Ratcliffe had very little working experience or even fascination in issues of intelligence, and Trump announced that Ratcliffe would not be nominated for the function right after all.
"I'll be appointing an ambassador to Germany", stated President Trump.
Last week, the president appointed Grenell as acting Director of National Intelligence.
Grenell said on Twitter that he's only serving in the position for a period of time.
"I think there was pretty uniform bipartisan opposition to that pick earlier and I don't think anything has changed", Warner said. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was quoted as saying.
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House for a trip to India, Trump said he had not been briefed on intelligence that Russian Federation was aiming to boost the campaign of Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, and he called for a probe into Schiff for the leak.
Collins, one of the most moderate Republicans in the Senate, was the first to voice disapproval of Grenell's being named to the DNI position.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of the GOP leadership, told reporters on Tuesday that Grenell will do well. Blunt said on Capitol Hill. "Craig Engle, who said he has been Grenell's lawyer for several years, said he was not required to".
Democrats have vociferously opposed the naming of Grenell.
"He has no experience in the intelligence community and is simply known as an acolyte to President Trump", Schumer claimed on the Senate floor on Monday. Trump reportedly said he thought Democrats would use that against him.
