Grenell, the first openly gay member of Mr. Trump’s Cabinet, has been criticized for his lack of intelligence experience and has repeatedly sparred with members of Congress.In the following weeks, Mr. Trump removed a small handful of top intelligence officials, including Michael Atkinson, former inspector general for the intelligence community. The Senate on Thursday confirmed Rep. John Ratcliffe, Texas Republican, as the next director of national intelligence. What anyone wants the intelligence to reflect won’t impact the intelligence I deliver.”The hearing was broken out into 30-minute blocks, at the end of which was a hard cutoff for senators’ questions. John Ratcliffe should sail through his confirmation process. Ratcliffe sat alone at a long table draped in black cloth.The public portion of the committee hearing was brief, lasting under three hours, and conducted with rigorous social distancing guidelines. Ratcliffe stated Russia used “active measures” to interfere in the 2016 and 2018 elections and was actively working to do so in 2020. “I will deliver the unvarnished truth. His confirmation — which was approved by … He will be an excellent helmsman of our intelligence community. He said that Russia failed to change any votes or influence the election in 2016, and committed to bringing information on foreign election interference to Congress.Senator Angus King, I-Maine, asked Ratcliffe if he would appear to testify to Congress if asked not to by the White House. It won’t be shaded for anyone. He said his goal is to provide “objective and timely intelligence” as the president’s principal intelligence adviser and in his dealings with Congress.Ratcliffe said he’d also pay attention to other key security issues, like Iranian military capabilities and overseas sponsorship of terror groups, the deployment of 5G technology, North Korean nuclear weapon and delivery system development, and cybersecurity and supply chain concerns. Representative John Ratcliffe (R-TX), President Trump's nominee to be Director of National Intelligence, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. In addition to the tension felt between the committee and the White House, the hearing reflected a new, socially-distanced reality. In his confirmation hearing Tuesday for director of national intelligence, U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Republican from Heath, gave two key guidelines for … Trump expressed confidence Ratcliffe could "rein in" intelligence agencies which he asserted had "run amok." He restated the question as a hypothetical, asking what Ratcliffe would do if the law were changed to allow the use of torture. Chairs normally filled by members of the public, the press and the nominee’s family were absent.