Archiv: John Ratcliffe


22.06.2025 - 21:15 [ Antiwar.com ]

Gabbard Falls in Line, Claims Iran Close to Nukes

(June 20, 2025)

NBC News reports that Gabbard has been sidelined in the White House debate on Iran. In her X post, the intelligence chief appeared to attempt to align her view with the president’s. “Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly,” she wrote. “President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree.”

Many users on X are comparing Gabbard’s post to former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s 2003 address to the UN Security Council. During the speech, Powell infamously presented false information that hardened beliefs among Americans that Iraq was seeking weapons of mass destruction, and that dictator Saddam Hussein had ties to al-Qaeda.

22.06.2025 - 21:11 [ Antiwar.com ]

CIA Chief Echoes Mossad Finding on Iran Nuclear Program

(June 20, 2025)

CIA Director John Ratcliffe appears to be one of the advocates of Mossad’s position within the White House. Breaking Points host Sagar Enjeti reports, “A senior US intelligence official tells me that there is ZERO independent US intelligence to back up CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s pronouncement that Iran is ‘at the one-yard line’ of a nuclear weapon.”

He continued, “All of the intelligence is from Israel.”

04.04.2025 - 14:54 [ Fox News ]

Trump confirms National Security Council firings as Waltz‘s Signal chat woes snowball

Waltz, who previously served as a Florida congressman and as a decorated combat Green Beret, has come under fire from Democrats and critics since March, when the Atlantic magazine‘s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published a firsthand account of getting added to a Signal group chat with top national security leaders, including Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, while they discussed strikes against Yemen terrorists. Trump and his administration have repeatedly defended the national security leader amid criticisms over the chat leak.

Signal is an encrypted messaging app that operates similarly to texting or making phone calls, but with additional security measures that help ensure communications are kept private to those included in the correspondence.

26.03.2025 - 14:54 [ theAtlantic.com ]

Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal

The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump—combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts—have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions. There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared. (…)

At 2 p.m., Waltz responded: “Typing too fast. The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.”

Vance responded a minute later: “Excellent.” Thirty-five minutes after that, Ratcliffe, the CIA director, wrote, “A good start,” which Waltz followed with a text containing a fist emoji, an American-flag emoji, and a fire emoji.

25.03.2025 - 14:16 [ Tagesschau.de ]

US-Sicherheitspanne zu Jemen-Angriff: „Das soll wohl ein Scherz sein“

Ein Journalist des US-Magazins The Atlantic wurde in eine Chatgruppe eingeladen. In der diskutierten 18 hochrangige Vertreter der US-Regierung über die Angriffe auf die Huthi-Miliz im Jemen, die nur wenige Stunden darauf ausgeführt wurden. Eine Panne, die vor allem bei den Demokraten für massive Empörung sorgt, in den Reihen der Republikaner wird abgewiegelt.

25.03.2025 - 14:09 [ Jeffrey Goldberg / theAtlantic.com ]

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans

According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 p.m. eastern time. So I waited in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1:55, I checked X and searched Yemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city.

I went back to the Signal channel. At 1:48, “Michael Waltz” had provided the group an update. Again, I won’t quote from this text, except to note that he described the operation as an “amazing job.” A few minutes later, “John Ratcliffe” wrote, “A good start.” Not long after, Waltz responded with three emoji: a fist, an American flag, and fire.

12.03.2025 - 14:13 [ Tass.com ]

Russia’s intel chief, CIA head agree on contact to reduce Russia-US confrontation

(today)

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin and Chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States John Ratcliffe agreed on regular contact to reduce confrontation between Moscow and Washington, the SVR press office reported on Wednesday, following a phone talk between the heads of both intelligence agencies.

04.06.2021 - 11:27 [ New York Times ]

Why Are We All Talking About U.F.O.s Right Now?

“There are a lot more sightings than have been made public,” John Ratcliffe, the former director of national intelligence, told Fox News in March. Quite a few of them, he said, “are difficult to explain.”

John Brennan, the former director of the C.I.A., said in a podcast last year that some of the unexplained sightings might be “some type of phenomenon that is the result of something that we don’t yet understand and that could involve some type of activity that some might say constitutes a different form of life.”

23.10.2020 - 02:31 [ theHill.com ]

Trump pushing to declassify document disputing intel findings on Russia: report

But two officials said their calls for declassification have been met with opposition from within the intelligence agencies, with some objecting that such a release would be too close to Election Day.

22.10.2020 - 08:27 [ New York Times ]

The Intelligence Director Who Is Undermining Trust and Truth

Mr. Ratcliffe, like Maj. Gen. Willoughby before him, seems to think his job is to serve only his boss, who requires that everyone agree with him at all times. As General MacArthur is often quoted: if you control intelligence, you control decision-making.

22.10.2020 - 08:22 [ Tagesschau.de ]

US-Geheimdienste: Iran und Russland mischen sich in Wahl ein

Geheimdienstkoordinator John Ratcliffe und FBI-Direktor Christopher Wray wandten sich am Abend direkt an die Amerikaner: „Wir stehen hier vor Ihnen, um Ihnen zu sagen, dass wir das im Griff haben und um Sie mit dem mächtigsten Werkzeug zu versorgen, das wir haben, um diese Versuche zu bekämpfen: Wahrheit und Information“, sagte Ratcliffe.

22.10.2020 - 08:18 [ USA Today ]

Iran, Russia obtained voter registration info to sow confusion in presidential election, US officials say

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said late Wednesday that voter registration information had been obtained by Iran and Russia in an attempt to undermine confidence in the 2020 election.

09.10.2020 - 14:00 [ CBS News ]

Former CIA Director John Brennan on ethics of intelligence, challenges to democracy

(07.10.2020)

– Recent declassifications by DNI John Ratcliffe: „I thought it was a outrageous, appalling and blatant act of politicization that he released, very selectively, some intelligence that was provided then to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is right now engaged in, I think, a very partisan effort to try to debunk the necessary investigative efforts of the FBI that looked into Russian interference in the 2016 election.“

09.10.2020 - 13:46 [ CNN ]

Trump‘s spy chief declassified unverified Russian intelligence despite concerns raised by CIA and NSA

(30.09.2020)

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified unverified Russian intelligence despite concerns being raised by the CIA and National Security Agency, according to people briefed on the matter.
Career officials in the intelligence agencies were concerned about declassifying the information because it was unverified and they believed it could reveal sources and methods. Ratcliffe overrode those concerns and sent the document to Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham on Tuesday, the people sa

09.10.2020 - 13:45 [ CNN ]

Comey knocks Barr‘s attacks on the Russia probe: ‚I have no idea what on Earth he is talking about‘

(30.09.2020)

Graham pointed to the documents declassified Tuesday by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe — which summarized unverified Russian intelligence that Clinton‘s 2016 presidential campaign was trying to „stir up a scandal“ by tying Trump to Russia — arguing they showed the FBI‘s double standard in not investigating Clinton and Russia.

One Republicans senator even asked Comey about the Democratic allegations he had swung the 2016 election to Trump by releasing information about the FBI‘s investigation into Clinton‘s emails.

09.10.2020 - 13:44 [ Townhall.com ]

BREAKING: Newly Declassified Documents Show Hillary May Have Set Up the Russia Hoax

(29.09.2020)

“According to his handwritten notes, former Central Intelligence Agency Director Brennan subsequently briefed President Obama and other senior national security officials on the intelligence, including the ‘alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016 of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services.’”

„On 07 September 2016, U.S. intelligence officials forwarded an investigative referral to FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok regarding ‘U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton‘s approval of a plan concerning U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private mail server,’” the letter continues.

03.09.2020 - 12:18 [ RealClearPolitics.com ]

Tables Turned: Biden Now Distrusts Intelligence Chief .

Ned Price, a former CIA analyst who served as a senior director on the Obama administration’s National Security Council staff and is not involved in the Biden campaign, offered another explanation. In an interview with RCP, Price said the most recent assessment claiming that China wants Biden to win isn’t convincing because it relies on open-source public comments from Chinese officials, not more penetrating intelligence.

30.08.2020 - 08:15 [ theHill.com ]

READ: Director of National Intelligence‘s letter to Congress on election security briefings

„I believe this approach helps ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the information ODNI provides the Congress in support of your oversight responsibilities on elections security, foreign malign influence, and election interference is not misunderstood nor politicized,“ Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe wrote in a letter to congressional committee heads.

30.08.2020 - 07:59 [ NPR.org ]

Director Of National Intelligence Cancels Verbal Election Security Briefings

In a joint statement released Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Congress had been set for briefings on election security in mid-September. But briefings for members of Congress, including the House and Senate intelligence committees, by Ratcliffe‘s office have now been called off, they said.

„This is a shocking abdication of its lawful responsibility to keep the Congress currently informed, and a betrayal of the public‘s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy,“ Pelosi and Schiff said in the statement.

29.08.2020 - 22:54 [ The Hill ]

READ: Director of National Intelligence‘s letter to Congress on election security briefings

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has informed the House Intelligence Committee and Senate Intelligence Committee that it will no longer be briefing on election security issues. Instead, it will provide written „finished intelligence products.“

22.07.2020 - 02:38 [ The Hill ]

Senators demand answers on expired surveillance programs

Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Mike Lee (R-Ut.) on Thursday pressed the Trump administration on whether and how mass surveillance programs authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act have been halted since the act‘s expiration.

The letter to Attorney General William Barr and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe raises concerns that the administration may be be continuing to conduct surveillance operations by relying on Executive Order 12333.

01.05.2020 - 22:14 [ the Hill ]

Senate panel sets confirmation hearing for Trump‘s intel chief pick for Tuesday

But Republicans hold just a one-seat majority on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

29.02.2020 - 10:22 [ Wall Street Journal ]

Trump Again Selects Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe to Be Intelligence Chief

President Trump said he intends to nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe as his director of national intelligence, reviving a selection that foundered last year over concerns about his qualifications and fears he would politicize the nation’s spy apparatus

29.02.2020 - 10:20 [ Tagesschau ]

US-Geheimdienstchef: Trump nominiert Ratcliffe erneut

Der von Trumps Republikanern dominierte Senat muss die Personalie bestätigen. Am Mittwoch vergangener Woche hatte Trump angekündigt, seinen loyalen Botschafter in Berlin, Richard Grenell, vorübergehend zusätzlich zum Geheimdienstkoordinator zu machen.

10.08.2019 - 20:09 [ CNN ]

Top intel official interrupted meeting to urge his deputy to resign

When discussing his attempt to replace Coats with Texas Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe on July 30, the President told reporters that intelligence community needed „somebody like that that‘s strong and can really rein it in. As you‘ve all learned, the intelligence agencies have run amok. They‘ve run amok.“

03.08.2019 - 09:12 [ Tagesschau.de ]

Geheimdienstkoordinator: Trump-Kandidat verzichtet auf Posten

Ratcliffe werde von den Medien „sehr unfair“ behandelt, schrieb Trump auf Twitter. Ratcliffe habe sich dazu entschieden, im Kongress zu bleiben, statt in einem sich über Monate hinstreckenden Bestätigungsverfahren „Schmähungen und Verleumdungen“ ausgesetzt zu werden.

03.08.2019 - 08:53 [ rnz.co.nz ]

Trump drops spy boss choice after criticism

Mr Trump said he would soon announce another nominee to oversee America‘s 17 civilian and military intelligence agencies.

03.08.2019 - 08:42 [ New York Times ]

Trump Drops Plans to Nominate John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence

President Trump on Friday abruptly dropped his plan to nominate Representative John Ratcliffe, Republican of Texas, as the nation’s top intelligence official after questions by Republicans and Democrats about his qualifications and concern over whether he had exaggerated his résumé.