Who is John Ratcliffe? US Senate confirms Donald Trump's pick as CIA director

The US Senate confirmed John Ratcliffe as director of the CIA on Thursday. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during President Trump's first term

Published on: Jan 24, 2025, 10:43:12 IST

By HT News Desk | Written by Ria Amol Wadikar

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The US Senate confirmed John Ratcliffe as director of the CIA on Thursday. John Ratcliffe was sworn in by vice president JD Vance as a key member of President Donald Trump's administration.

Vice President JD Vance swears in John Ratcliffe as CIA Director as his wife Michele holds the Bible (AP)

The former director of national intelligence received overwhelming support from both Republicans and Democrats, with 74 votes supporting him in the Senate.

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During his confirmation hearing last week, Ratcliffe said the agency under his leadership would "produce insightful, objective, all-source analysis, never allowing political or personal biases to cloud our judgment or infect our products."

Here is everything we need to know about the new CIA director.

Personal life and education

Ratcliffe was born in Mount Prospect, Illinois, on October 20, 1965, to parents who were teachers and had five elder siblings.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the University of Notre Dame in 1987 and later earned his a juris doctor (doctor of law) degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1989.

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John Ratcliffe and his wife Michelle have two children.

Career in law and politics

After law school, Ratcliffe practised law at a private firm before leaving to join the US Attorney's office in the Eastern district of Texas.

Soon after he served four consecutive two-year terms as the mayor of a town called Heath in Texas from 2004 to 2012.

In 2004, he was also appointed by President George W. Bush to be the chief of anti-terrorism and national security for the Eastern District of Texas, as a part of the Department of Justice.

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In 2007, Ratcliffe was named interim US. attorney for the same district, but returned to private practice in 2008 when Rebecca Gregory was confirmed by the Senate as the permanent US attorney.

Ratcliffe became a member of the US House of Representatives in 2014, on behalf of Texas' 4th district, defeating incumbent congressman Ralph Hall. He was re-elected from the largely Republican district in 2016 and 2018 as well.

Ratcliffe also served as Trump's national intelligence director from 2020-21. After the Biden administration took over in 2021, he became a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, tasked with holding China accountable for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Controversies

As a Republican US representative, in March, 2019 Ratcliffe posted on social media platform X (then Twitter) that an ex-FBI official had confirmed to him under oath that the Justice Department under President Obama had ordered the FBI to not file charges against Hillary Clinton regarding her handling of classified material.

It was later revealed that the FBI had not filed charges because there was a lack of evidence.

Ratcliffe as also one of the congressional members on Donald Trump's impeachment team ahead of his trial and stated that the charge against Trump was “unconstitutional”.

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HT News Desk
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