Kokomo Tribune
It was January 2017, and, along with then President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate, the Hoosier state looked to be well-represented in the White House after Inauguration Day.
Trump had selected former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The post itself was recommended by the 9/11 Commission Report, which was co-authored by former Indiana Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, in order to facilitate communication among the various intelligence agencies.
Following Coats’ selection as our nation’s director of national intelligence, we believed the position was just as important as it was after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, given the swirling maelstrom both at home and abroad at the time — not the least of which was Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, which the intelligence community now agrees as settled fact.
Not that Trump is convinced, mind you. And we can only assume that was a major reason why the president announced on July 28 that Coats will be out as the nation’s DNI Aug. 15. In his place will be Trump sycophant and Texas Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe.
Coats was a strong, if interesting, pick for this most important job. While he has a less-than-stellar record on LGBT rights, and his lucrative work as a lobbyist still flies in the face of his boss’s drain-the-swamp rhetoric, Coats’ long track record of government service and skepticism about Russian President Vladimir Putin was a welcome change from several of his co-workers these past two years who possessed neither.
A steady hand and incredulous eye toward authoritarian leaders was desperately needed in the Trump White House. We’d hoped Coats’ voice on these matters would be heard.
Today, we can only hope John Ratcliffe will be as principled a director of national intelligence as Coats was, and not fear telling the truth about Russia’s election interference in 2016 or its and other nations’ potential attempts in 2020.
Send comments to [email protected].
