John Ratcliffe

John Ratcliffe
Official portrait, 2025
9th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Assumed office
January 23, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyMichael Ellis
Preceded byWilliam J. Burns
6th Director of National Intelligence
In office
May 26, 2020 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyNeil Wiley
Preceded byDan Coats
Succeeded byAvril Haines
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 4th district
In office
January 3, 2015 – May 22, 2020
Preceded byRalph Hall
Succeeded byPat Fallon
Mayor of Heath, Texas
In office
June 14, 2004 – May 14, 2012
Preceded byChris Cuny
Succeeded byLorne Liechty
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas
Acting
May 21, 2007 – April 29, 2008
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byMatthew D. Orwig
Succeeded byRebecca Gregory
Personal details
Born
John Lee Ratcliffe

(1965-10-20) October 20, 1965 (age 61)
Mount Prospect, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Michele Addington
Children2
EducationUniversity of Notre Dame (BA)
Southern Methodist University (JD)
John Ratcliffe's voice
John Ratcliffe speaks on election security at an FBI press conference
Recorded October 20, 2020

John Lee Ratcliffe (born October 20, 1965) is an American politician and attorney who has been the 9th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency since 2025. He was the 6th Director of National Intelligence from 2020 to 2021. He was the congressman for Texas's 4th district from 2015 to 2020. He was one of the most conservative congressmen during his congressional career. Before, he was the Mayor of Heath, Texas from 2004 to 2012.

President Donald Trump announced on July 28, 2019, that he intended to nominate Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Ratcliffe withdrew his name five days after some senators raised concerns about his experience. In February 2020, President Trump announced that he was nominating Ratcliffe to be Director of National Intelligence. Ratcliffe was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 21, 2020 by a vote of 49 to 44.

In November 2024, President-elect Trump announced that he would nominate Ratcliffe to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in January 2025.

Early life

Ratcliffe was born in Mount Prospect, Illinois, northwest of Chicago. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1987.

In 2004, president George W. Bush hired Ratcliffe to be the Chief of Anti-Terrorism and National Security for the Eastern District of Texas, working for the U.S. Department of Justice. In May 2007, Ratcliffe was named interim U.S. Attorney for the district.

While running for congress, Ratcliffe was known for lying about his legal career such as about being a lawyer in the U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case. He also lied about arresting 300 illegal immigrants in a single day while serving as prosecutor. The lie was discovered by The Washington Post and Ratcliffe even mentioned it in his congressional website's biography.

Ratcliffe was elected to four two-year terms as mayor of Heath, Texas, serving from June 2004 to May 2012.

In 2009, Ratcliffe became a partner with former Attorney General John Ashcroft in the law firm Ashcroft, Sutton, Ratcliffe.

U.S. House of Representatives

In late 2013, Ratcliffe announced that he would run in the Republican primary against 17-term incumbent Congressman Ralph Hall of the 4th district. At 91, Hall was the oldest member of Congress and the oldest person ever to serve in the House of Representatives. In the March 4 primary, Ratcliffe finished second with 29 percent of the vote, behind Hall's 45 percent, leaving to a runoff election. Ratcliffe beat Hall with 53 percent of the vote, the first time in twenty years that a sitting Republican congressman in Texas had lost in a primary. In the November 2014 general election, Ratcliffe ran without a Democratic challenger. He was re-elected in 2016 and 2018.

In a September 2016 hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, Ratcliffe questioned then-FBI Director James Comey about whether the FBI's decision not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton in connection with the email controversy.

Ratcliffe was a member of the Republican Study Committee.

On January 20, 2020, before the Senate impeachment trial, the Trump administration named Ratcliffe as one of the congressional members of his first impeachment team.

Director of National Intelligence

President Donald Trump announced on July 28, 2019, that he planned to nominate Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence. Ratcliffe had little experience in national security or national intelligence. Trump's plans to nominate Ratcliffe became controversial when he was found to have lied about his role in prosecuting terrorism and immigration cases.

On August 2, 2019, Trump said in a tweet that he was withdrawing Ratcliffe's name from nomination.

On February 28, 2020, President Donald Trump publicly announced Ratcliffe to be his nominee for Director of National Intelligence again. Ratcliffe was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 21, 2020, by a vote of 49 to 44. He was sworn in on May 26.

Thirty-five days before the 2020 presidential election in November, Ratcliffe declassified 2016 Russian disinformation that said that Hillary Clinton had personally approved a plan to link Trump with Vladimir Putin and Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee. The intelligence community were against the release of the information. Ratcliffe also said that Iran was trying to rig the elections against Trump.

In November 2020, Trump offered the job of U.S. Attorney General to Ratcliffe, however he refused to accept.

Director of the CIA

In November 2024, Ratcliffe was nominated by President-elect Trump to be the next Director of the CIA. Ratcliffe appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on January 15, 2025. The Senate Intelligence Committee approved his nomination and the Senate confirmed him on January 23, 2025 by a vote of 74 to 25. He assumed office later that day.

Personal life

Ratcliffe is married to Michele Ratcliffe and they have two daughters. They live in Heath, Texas.

Ratcliffe is a Roman Catholic.

References

  1. ↑ "Elected Officials". Archived from the original on April 30, 2004. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  2. ↑ Justin Cheatham (May 19, 2012). "New officials take command of Heath council". Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Senate Confirms Becky Gregory As New U.S. Attorney For Eastern District Of Texas". United States Senator John Cornyn, Texas. April 29, 2008. Archived from the original on May 29, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  4. ↑ "State Bar of Texas - Find A Lawyer: John Lee Ratcliffe". www.texasbar.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Dilanian, Ken (July 29, 2019). "Intel officials worry Trump's pick for top spy will politicize the job". NBC News.
  6. ↑ "The quiet director: How Gina Haspel manages the CIA's volatile relationship with Trump". The Washington Post. 2019.
  7. ↑ Trump, Donald J. [@realDonaldTrump] (July 28, 2019). "I am pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the Director of National Intelligence" (Tweet). Retrieved July 29, 2019 – via Twitter.
  8. ↑ Zachary Cohen; Pamela Brown; Allie Malloy; Kaitlan Collins (2 August 2019). "Trump says Ratcliffe is no longer his pick for director of national intelligence". CNN. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  9. ↑ Dennis, Steven T.; Jacobs, Jennifer; Flatley, Daniel (August 2, 2019). "Ratcliffe Withdraws From Intelligence Nomination, Trump Says". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  10. ↑ "Trump scuttles plan to nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe as top intelligence official". NBC News. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  11. ↑ Savage, Charlie; Barnes, Julian E.; Karni, Annie (August 2, 2019). "Trump Drops Plans to Nominate John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence". The New York Times.
  12. ↑ "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 116th Congress - 2nd Session". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  13. ↑ Barnes, Julian E.; Fandos, Nicholas (May 21, 2020). "Senate Approves John Ratcliffe for Top Intelligence Job in Sharply Split Vote". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  14. ↑ Press • •, The Associated (2024-11-12). "Trump picks former Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe to lead CIA". NBC New York. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  15. ↑ Blackburn, Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez, Piper Hudspeth (2024-11-12). "Trump chooses John Ratcliffe to serve as his CIA director | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 2024-11-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "John's Story". Ratcliffe for Congress. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  17. ↑ Keeshan, Charles (July 30, 2019). "Trump's intelligence director pick Ratcliffe was born in Mount Prospect, grew up in Palatine". Daily Herald. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  18. 1 2 "Biography". House of Representatives. December 11, 2012. Archived from the original on April 5, 2015.
  19. ↑ Bump, Philip (July 29, 2019). "Trump's nominee to lead America's intelligence agencies has an unusually thin resume". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  20. ↑ Richter, Karl. Only election can fill expected Ratcliffe vacancy, Texarkana Gazette, July 29, 2019.
  21. ↑ Swartsell, Nick (April 4, 2014). "John Ratcliffe touts time as U.S. attorney in run against U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on January 30, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  22. ↑ Fortin, Jacey (July 28, 2019). "John Ratcliffe, Nominee for Intelligence Chief, Is Seen as Staunch Trump Ally". New York Times. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  23. 1 2 "Trump's pick to lead U.S. intelligence claims he arrested 300 illegal immigrants in a single day. He didn't". The Washington Post. 2019. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Biography". Ratcliffe.house.gov. 11 December 2012. Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved April 24, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  25. ↑ "John Ratcliffe". The Ashcroft Group. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Ratcliffe will not look to continue being mayor of Heath". Rockwall County Herald-Banner. February 1, 2012. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  27. ↑ Council, John; Robbins, Mary Alice (April 27, 2009). "Four Former U.S. Attorneys Join Ashcroft Law Firm". Texas Lawyer.[permanent dead link]
  28. ↑ "Our Team - John Ratcliffe". Ashcroft Law Firm. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009.
  29. ↑ Gillman, Todd (December 9, 2013). "Ex-US Attorney John Ratcliffe files against Ralph Hall". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  30. 1 2 DelReal, Jose (May 27, 2014). "91-year-old Ralph Hall loses runoff". Politico. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  31. ↑ Mark Haslett, Trump Nominates Ratcliffe New Director of National Intelligence, KETR (July 29, 2019).
  32. ↑ Clark Mindock, 30 Members, 1 Senator Running Unopposed Archived August 3, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Roll Call (November 3, 2014).
  33. ↑ "New Pressure on Comey to Return to Capitol Hill". Fox News. September 11, 2017. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Statement from the Press Secretary Announcing Congressional Members of the President's Impeachment Team". whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved 2020-01-21 – via National Archives.
  36. ↑ "Defending intelligence pick, Trump says U.S. spy agencies 'run amok'". Reuters. July 30, 2019. Archived from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  37. ↑ "Trump's pick for national intelligence director is disengaged from committee work on Capitol Hill, officials say". Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  38. ↑ Robert O'Harrow Jr. & Shawn Boburg (August 1, 2019). "Trump's pick to lead U.S. intelligence claims he arrested 300 illegal immigrants in a single day. He didn't". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  39. ↑ Alexander Mallin, James Gordon Meek & Mike Levine (July 30, 2019). "Trump's pick for intelligence director misrepresented role in anti-terror case". ABC News. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  40. ↑ "Trump to Reporters: 'You Vet for Me'". August 2, 2019. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  41. ↑ "Rep. Ratcliffe statement on decision to withdraw from consideration for DNI". U.S. Congressman John Ratcliffe. 2019-08-02. Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  42. ↑ Trump, Donald J. (2020-02-28). "I am pleased to announce the nomination of @RepRatcliffe (Congressman John Ratcliffe) to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Would have completed process earlier, but John wanted to wait until after IG Report was finished. John is an outstanding man of great talent!". @realDonaldTrump. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  43. ↑ "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 116th Congress - 2nd Session". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  44. ↑ Zwirko, Walt (May 26, 2020). "Ratcliffe sworn in as new US spy chief". KTEN. Archived from the original on June 2, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  45. ↑ "Intel chief releases Russian disinfo on Hillary Clinton that was rejected by bipartisan Senate panel". POLITICO. September 29, 2020. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  46. ↑ Barnes, Julian E.; Goldman, Adam; Fandos, Nicholas (2020-09-29). "Top Intelligence Official Releases Unverified, Previously Rejected Russia Information". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  47. ↑ "Ratcliffe went off script with Iran remarks, officials say". POLITICO. October 28, 2020. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  48. ↑ Bender, Michael C. (2021-07-08). "Inside Donald Trump's Last Days in the White House and Plans for a Comeback". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
  49. ↑ Wegmann, Philip [@PhilipWegmann] (12 November 2024). "News: Trump announces John Ratcliffe as his pick for CIA" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  50. ↑ Shear, Michael (November 12, 2024). "Trump Picks John Ratcliffe, His Former Intelligence Director, for C.I.A. Chief". The New York Times.
  51. ↑ Barnes, Julian E. (2025-01-15). "John Ratcliffe Lays Out a Vision for a More Aggressive C.I.A." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
  52. ↑ Klepper, David (23 January 2025). "The Senate confirms John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA, giving Trump his second Cabinet member". Associated Press. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  53. ↑ "Senate confirms John Ratcliffe to be Trump's CIA director". NBC News. 2025-01-23. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
  54. ↑ "John Ratcliffe Swearing-in as CIA Director". C-SPAN. 2025-01-23. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
  55. ↑ Religious affiliation of members of 116th Congress (PDF) (Report). Pew Research Center. 2019-01-03. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 10, 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-22.

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