WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump abruptly gave up his choice to serve as the nation's next intelligence chief Friday, tweeting that Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas, who had gotten minimal support from Republican senators, was being mistreated by the media.
"Our great Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe is being treated very unfairly by the LameStream Media. Rather than going through months of slander and libel, I explained to John how miserable it would be for him and his family to deal with these people," Trump tweeted Friday afternoon.
"John has therefore decided to stay in Congress where he has done such an outstanding job representing the people of Texas, and our Country. I will be announcing my nomination for DNI shortly," he added in a second tweet.
Ratcliffe, a vocal critic of the Robert S. Mueller III's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, was announced last week as Trump's choice to succeed former Sen. Dan Coats in the post of Director of National Intelligence.
But Republicans, many of whom were irked by Trump's treatment of Coats, hedged on whether they would support Ratcliffe. In recent days, he drew controversy because he was accused of overstating his national security experience.
