The circle of advisers willing to say no to President Donald Trump continues to shrink, with potentially ominous ramifications for national security.
Exiting stage left is Dan Coats, director of national intelligence. The former U.S. senator had integrity that often put him at odds with Trump _ most notably because Coats refused to play along with Trump's minimizing of Russia's 2016 meddling and continued interference heading into 2020.
Enter stage far right John Ratcliffe, Texas congressman. On paper, Ratcliffe has more qualifications for the job than, say, Ben Carson has for his. He served in a Department of Justice counterterrorism position for three years and as a U.S. attorney for one. The more significant resume line: As a member of Congress, he's bent over backwards to curry favor with Trump, see most recently his barking in the Bob Mueller hearings over the special counsel's refusal to exonerate the president over obstruction of justice.
In the wake of Attorney General Bill Barr's outrageous vow to investigate the origins of the Russia probe, look for Ratcliffe to fold in defending the intelligence community, which Coats pointedly had not.
Last week, analysts at the Defense Intelligence Agency told The Wall Street Journal that in the 13 months since Trump's first summit with Kim Jong Un, North Korea has "ramped up production of long-range missiles and the fissile material used in nuclear weapons." That comports with Coats' testimony to the Senate in January: Promises aside, he said, much to Trump's chagrin, Pyongyang wouldn't give up its nuclear weapons.
In this job, candor saves lives. Obsequiousness can kill.
