Ratcliffe steers clear of Trump intel controversies

But Ratcliffe declined to weigh in on several of Trump's controversies with the intelligence community, from his unwillingness to accept their finding that Russia was trying to help him in the
2016 election to the firing of several senior intelligence officials, including former IC inspector general Michael Atkinson, who notified Congress of the Ukraine whistleblower complaint that ultimately sparked Trump's impeachment.

Asked about the firing, Ratcliffe said he wasn't familiar enough with the Justice Department's legal opinion on whether the whistleblower complaint met the legal requirement for notifying Congress. "That's a legal question that I don't know the answer to," Ratcliffe said.

And Ratcliffe declined to answer a question from Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, about whether he agreed with the Senate Intelligence Committee's report that corroborated the intelligence community assessment Russia was trying to help Trump in 2017, when the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee disputed that finding in 2018.

"I respect both committees, but I have not seen the underlying intelligence to tell me why there is a difference of opinion between the two committees," Ratcliffe said.

Ratcliffe looks to have the support he needs from Republicans who were skeptical the first time he was picked, but Democrats pressed him Tuesday on his ability to be independent from Trump's open distrust of the intelligence community.

Ratcliffe would be replacing US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, a fierce loyalist to the President who was named acting director of national intelligence in February following ouster of Joseph Maguire. Grenell has butted heads with Congress since taking over the role.

Warner said he had concerns about what he described as Ratcliffe's "inexperience, partisanship, and past statements that seemed to embellish" his record.

"Some have suggested that your main qualification for confirmation to this post is that you are not Ambassador Grenell.

But frankly, that is not enough," Warner said in his opening statement. "Before we put the Senate's stamp of approval and confirm a nominee to this critical position, senators must demand the qualities that the Senate specified when it passed the law creating the ODNI."

Ratcliffe pledged in his opening statement to deliver unbiased intelligence to the President and Congress.

"Let me be very clear. Regardless of what anyone wants our intelligence to reflect, the intelligence I will provide, if confirmed, will not be impacted or altered as a result of outside influence. Above all, my fidelity and loyalty will always be with the Constitution and the rule of law, and my actions as DNI will reflect that commitment," Ratcliffe said in the opening statement.