Trump says to nominate John Ratcliffe as new director of national intelligence

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will nominate Congressman John Ratcliffe as the new director of national intelligence (DNI), the White House's top intelligence adviser.

The nomination needs to be approved by the Senate.

Dan Coats, the current director, will be leaving office on Aug 15, according to Trump.

The president added that an acting director will be named shortly.

The DNI leads the nation's intelligence community and serves as the principal intelligence adviser to the White House.

A 53-year-old Republican, Ratcliffe has been viewed as one of the most conservative members of Congress based on his voting record. He has served the House since 2015.

Ratcliffee sits on four standing committees of the House that respectively oversees intelligence, judiciary, homeland security and ethics issues.

He defended Trump during former special counsel Robert Mueller's testimony this week in front of the House about the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and Trump's possible obstruction of justice.

During his questioning of Mueller, Ratcliffe fiercely challenged the legal basis for the conclusions of Mueller's report.

Coats, a former US senator, was sworn in as the fifth DNI in March 2017. He frequently appeared out of step with Trump over policy and intelligence issues, including the alleged Russian interference.