John Ratcliffe
US Director of National Intelligence 2020-21, CIA Director 2025-
John Ratcliffe pictured at the outset of his term as US Director of National Intelligence in 2020 (ODNI, Public Domain).
John Ratcliffe is a former US Congressman who served as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) under President Donald Trump in 2020-21. Ratcliffe was accused of politicising this position after declassifying information on Trump-Russia investigations at key points during the 2020 presidential campaign. However, he won some bipartisan support for his hawkish stance on China.
In January 2025, Trump appointed Ratcliffe the 25th director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the first former DNI to hold the position.1 One of his first acts was to publicize a ‘low confidence’ CIA analysis which suggested a Chinese laboratory leak as the most likely origin of the Covid-19 virus.
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