Tag: Dan Coats

Trump just admitted exactly why he chose his new national intel chief pick

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump on Tuesday accidentally admitted his reason for choosing his new pick to become Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is to end investigations he doesn’t favor.

For years President Trump has complained about the investigations into his actions, those of his campaign, his transition team, his administration, his businesses, and even his charity. And for years he has attacked the Intelligence Community, the 17 intelligence agencies headed by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

Trump on Sunday announced his DNI, Dan Coats, was resigning, although some believe Coats was forced out.

View the complete July 30 article by David Badash from the New Civil Rights Movement on the AlterNet website here.

Trump might bypass protocol in naming acting intelligence chief because current deputy isn’t sufficiently loyal: report

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump clearly went for a loyalist when he nominated Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas to replace National Intelligence Director Dan Coats, who has announced his resignation. But first, Ratcliffe — whose devotion to Trump was painfully evident during his hostile questioning of former special counsel Robert Mueller during a congressional hearing on July 24 — must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. And CNN is reporting that Trump is bypassing traditional protocolswhile appointing an acting intel chief to hold the position while Ratcliffe awaits a Senate confirmation hearing.

Under a “normal” presidency with traditional protocols honored, Deputy Intelligence Director Sue Gordon would be a logical choice either as a temporary or permanent replacement for Coats. But according to two CNN sources, the problem Trump has with Gordon — even as a temporary intel chief — is that she would not be the type of unquestioning loyalist that Trump is seeking.

The Trump Administration, CNN reports, is “reviewing whether it can legally choose an acting director outside the line of succession.” But those two sources stressed to CNN that no final decision has been made.

View the complete July 30 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

Trump Wants To Fire Intel Chief Coats ‘Sooner Rather Than Later’

Trump is reportedly interested in purging Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. Previous public statements from the intelligence chief have undermined Trump’s self-aggrandizing rhetoric.

“President Trump has told confidants he’s eager to remove Dan Coats as director of national intelligence, according to five sources who have discussed the matter directly with the president,” Axios reported on Friday.

Trump has reportedly been plotting Coats’ removal “for months” the outlet noted, quoting a source who said the action will happen “sooner rather than later.”

View the complete July 12 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

Talk grows that Trump will fire Dan Coats

Some close to the White House believe that Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats may soon be ousted as President Trump’s top intelligence official, a move that would draw ire from Capitol Hill and likely raise new concerns about the administration’s national security apparatus.

The latest speculation around Coats’s potential dismissal comes just weeks after the director of national intelligence (DNI) testified in a high-profile congressional hearing that North Korea is “unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons” amid talks between Trump and the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

Longtime Trump confidant Christopher Ruddy this week raised the possibility the president could remove Coats from his post, asserting in a CNN interview that there is “general disappointment” with him at the White House, and that he overstepped his bounds by trying to “make policy and not inform policy.”

View the complete February 20 article by Morgan Chalfant and Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

Members of Congress voice alarm about report that Trump has grown frustrated with Coats

Daniel Coats, director of national intelligence, testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Jan. 29. Credit: Aaron P. Bernstein, Bloomberg

Several Republican and Democratic lawmakers threw their support Wednesday behind Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, who some administration officials worry may soon be dismissed from his position by President Trump.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that, according to people familiar with the matter, Trump has become frustrated with Coats over public statements that the president views as undercutting his policy goals.

In an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, Trump said he was not thinking about removing Coats.

“I haven’t even thought about it,” Trump said.

View the complete February 20 article by Felicia Sonmez on The Washington Post website here.

Trump grows frustrated with Coats, leading some to fear he might be fired

North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons national intelligence chief Daniel Coats said on Jan. 29. (Reuters)

President Trump has grown increasingly disenchanted with Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, who has served as the nation’s top intelligence official for nearly two years, leading some administration officials to worry he will soon be dismissed, according to people familiar with the matter.

The president has never seen Coats as a close or trusted adviser, the people said, but he has become more frustrated with him in recent weeks over public statements that Trump sees as undercutting his policy goals, particularly with respect to reaching a disarmament agreement with North Korea.

The people familiar with the matter, who like others interviewed for this report spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, did not believe that Coats would be fired immediately but said that Trump is considering removing him. They also noted that Trump sometimes grows angry with officials but stops short of dismissing them.

View the complete February 19 article by Shane Harris, Josh Dawsey and Ellen Nakashim on The Washington Post website here.

Trump Again Skips Intel Briefing After Siding With Putin

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website July 18, 2018:

President broke with DNI Coats standing alon(g)side Russian strongman

President Trump and Russian President Putin arrive Monday for a press conference in Helsinki, Finland. Credit: Chris McGrath, Getty Images

For the second consecutive day since he broke with America’s spy agencies over Russia’s election meddling, President Donald Trump on Wednesday will not get an intelligence briefing.

The daily presidential guidance email sent out each evening by the White House initially featured only one item, an 11:30 a.m. Cabinet meeting. It was was updated Wednesday morning to include a 2 p.m. press briefing with Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Trump’s public schedule typically begins with a late-morning intelligence briefing in the Oval Office after his “executive time” in the White House residence, during which he tweets while watching cable news. He also uses that time to call lawmakers and friends, aides say.

View the complete article here.

 

Intelligence Officials Sidestep Senate Questions on Trump and Russia

The following article by Emmarie Huetteman and Charlie Savage was posted on the New York Times website June 7, 2017:

From left, the acting F.B.I. director, Andrew G. McCabe; Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein; the director of national intelligence, Dan Coats; and the N.S.A. director, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Two top intelligence officials refused to answer senators’ questions on Wednesday about whether President Trump had asked them to intervene in the F.B.I. investigation into Russian election interference, saying only that they had never felt “pressured” by the White House to do anything improper.

The two officials — Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, and Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency — testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on the eve of a highly anticipated appearance before the panel by James B. Comey, who was fired as F.B.I. director by Mr. Trump last month. Mr. Comey, in prepared remarks released by the committee after the two officials testified, said Mr. Trump had asked him to drop an investigation into the president’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. Continue reading “Intelligence Officials Sidestep Senate Questions on Trump and Russia”