Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testifies to the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about “worldwide threats” on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 29, 2019.
Joshua Roberts | CNBC
Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, is expected to step down in the coming days, The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the decision.
President Donald Trump is expected to choose Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, to replace Coats, the people told The Times.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request to confirm the Times’ report.
Coats’ tenure in Trump’s administration was marked with tensions that at times spilled into public view.
Coats had previously served as the U.S. ambassador to Germany during former President George W. Bush’s administration, and as a U.S. senator representing Indiana. He was confirmed as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence in the spring of 2017, making him the head of an intelligence community that had been attacked on multiple occasions by Trump himself.
Ratcliffe drew attention this past week, when he questioned Robert Mueller during the former special counsel’s hearings before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees about his investigation of Russian election interference, possible coordination between the Kremlin and Trump’s campaign, and possible obstruction of justice by Trump himself.
During the Judiciary hearing, Ratcliffe said he agreed with Mueller’s conclusions that Russia’s efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election were “sweeping and systematic.” But he tore into Mueller for noting in his 448-page page that while the investigation does not recommend Trump be charged for obstruction, it also does not “exonerate” him.
“Can you give me an example other than Donald Trump where the Justice Department determined that an investigated person was not exonerated because their innocence was not conclusively determined?” Ratcliffe asked.
Mueller responded, “I cannot, but this is a unique situation.”
“You can’t find it, because – I’ll tell you why – it doesn’t exist,” Ratcliffe shot back.
Mueller made no determination about whether Trump obstructed justice, because Mueller followed a Department of Justice legal opinion that states that a sitting president cannot be indicted while in office. Mueller later said that Trump could potentially be indicted after leaving office.
“It was not the special counsel’s job to conclusively determine Donald Trump’s innocence or to exonerate him because the bedrock principle of our justice system is a presumption of innocence. It exists for everyone, everyone is entitled to it, including sitting presidents,” Ratcliffe said.
“You managed to violate every principle and the most sacred of traditions about prosecutors not offering extra prosecutorial analysis.”
Trump shouldn’t be above the law, Ratcliffe added, “but he damn sure shouldn’t be below the law, which is where Volume 2 of this report puts him.”
