Trump's top spy pick vows he won't politicize intelligence

Rep. John Ratcliffe, President Donald Trump's pick to be the nation's top intelligence official, was nothing if not consistent as he told lawmakers a dozen or so times that he wouldn't allow politics to color information he took to the president. The senators kept asking anyway as Trump's firing or forcing out of at least seven top U.S. intelligence officials since last summer overshadowed the Texas Republican’s confirmation hearing Tuesday. The forced departures have left the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the nation’s 16 spy agencies, without a single Senate-confirmed leader as the nation faces the COVID-19 pandemic, threats from Iran and North Korea, Russian disinformation campaigns to meddle in the U.S. elections, and rising competition from China.

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