The choice of intelligence chief Donald Trump is withdrawn and the new nominee " soon"

Donald Trump has announced that he will announce "shortly" a new candidate who will replace former Republican Senator Dan Coats at the head of the 17 agencies making up the U.S. intelligence sector.

Washington:

The controversial choice of president Donald Trump to become the next director of national intelligence, representative John Ratcliffe, withdrew from consideration Friday because of questions regarding his experience and skills.

Trump blamed Ratcliffe's withdrawal on media attacks, but the appointment of the Texas Republican legislature had raised serious concerns about the politicization of the sensitive post and its confirmation in the Senate was far from certain.

Trump has announced that he will announce "soon" a new candidate who will replace former Republican Senator Dan Coats at the head of the 17 agencies making up the U.S. intelligence sector.

"Our great Republican Congressman, John Ratcliffe, is being treated very unfairly by LameStream Media," Trump said in a tweet announcing the withdrawal of his choice for DNI.

"Instead of living through months of slander and defamation, I explained to John how miserable it would be for him and his family to deal with these people," Trump said. "So John decided to stay at the Congress where he did an outstanding job representing the people of Texas and our country."

The appointment of Ratcliffe, a staunch supporter of Trump, to become America's chief intelligence officer had met with strong criticism from Democrats.

He received only lukewarm support from key Republicans, questioning the fact that Ratcliffe, 53, could have obtained the 51 votes needed for confirmation by the Senate.

"Ratcliffe's representative should never have been taken into account," said New York Senator Chuck Schumer, president of the Democratic minority in the Senate. "This is part of President Trump's model: an appointment on a whim without consultation or approval, and then a forced withdrawal when disorder ensues.

"The next director of National Intelligence must be someone who is non-partisan, who sees the world objectively and tells the truth in front of the government," Schumer said.

Ratcliffe is the last of several people Trump has listed for key positions in the U.S. government who retired before they could hold those positions.

"It is as close as Trump will be able to admit that the person he appointed is terribly unqualified for DNI," said Ned Price, a former CIA officer and spokesperson for Democratic President Barack Obama's National Security Council.

Price said on Twitter that Ratcliffe was "so extraordinarily hyper-partisan and so incredibly misleading in his resume that he would have met a freight train even in a Senate stamp."

Ratcliffe's curriculum vitae has been the subject of several press articles in recent days suggesting that he may have highlighted his anti-terrorist credentials. He claimed on his website that he sent terrorists to prison while he was a prosecutor, but this does not seem to be the case.

The president's outspoken advocate often appears in Fox News, repeating conspiracy theories, such as alleging that special lawyer Robert Mueller's investigation into electoral interference in Russia was a political game of the Democrats working for American intelligence.

Before coming to Congress in 2015, he was mayor of a small and wealthy suburb of Dallas Lake, Texas for eight years, salaried attorney to the local federal prosecutor, and then acting attorney for only one year in 2007.

"Humbled and honored»

In a statement, Ratcliffe, who sits on the House's intelligence, justice and Homeland Security committees, thanked Trump for his appointment.

"I was honoured and honoured that the president placed his trust in me to lead our country's intelligence operations and remains convinced that, once confirmed, I would have done so with the objectivity, fairness and integrity that our intelligence agencies need and deserve," he said. .

"However, I do not want a debate about national security and the information surrounding my confirmation, even false, to become a purely political and partisan issue," Ratcliffe said. "The country we all love deserves to be treated like an American problem.

"As a result, I have asked the president to appoint someone other than myself to this position."

Coats, the current head of the DNI, announced on Sunday that he would retire on August 15.
Coats did not always see Trump in the eye to deal with many issues while he was the official in charge of overseeing and coordinating the CIA, the National Security Agency and other US intelligence agencies.