According to The Gateway Pundit there are five names being debated for permanent DNI {SEE HERE}.
Qualifying any comment by saying this is entirely speculation, a few have asked me for opinion.
Gateway Pundit posits the names: GOP Representative Elise Stefanik, GOP Representative Rick Crawford, current Deputy Director of the CIA Michael Ellis, Vice President JD Vance’s national security adviser Cliff Sims, and former GOP Rep Jason Chaffetz.
Names not mentioned in that article include former HPSCI Chairman Devin Nunes or former Representative now U.S. Attorney for North Carolina Dan Bishop.
Without being fully transparent about how I am reaching my perspective, here’s my take on these names.
I have not seen Michael Ellis in this discussion before. However, he would be a very solid consideration. Ellis is a very straight, non-pretending, deliberate and serious person. With a firm grasp on the problem, Ellis would be a solid option.
Current HPSCI Chairman Rick Crawford would also be a solid consideration. As current HPSCI Chairman Crawford has worked with Tulsi Gabbard, and he does have a very firm grasp on the nuances and issues within the current intelligence community.
Dan Bishop’s name has not been mentioned by many, but he would also be an asset in the role. At least he should be interviewed to see if he thoroughly understands the problem and would be willing to confront it.
Stefanik might want the job and might be the favorite of White House Chief of Staff Susie Ellis, but I’m not sure Stefanik is strong enough to stand up to the pressure within the overall intelligence apparatus. There’s a general pretending that often comes from DC familiarity as well as willingness to go along with norms and status quo. Stefanik is not a disruptor.
It doesn’t seem like Devin Nunes wants the job, for all of the reasons why a tenured IC person wouldn’t want the job. Jason Chaffetz would be worthless, as he was when Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. I don’t know enough about Cliff Simms to give an opinion.
Ranked: Ellis, Crawford, Bishop.
Concerning: Stefanik, Chaffetz.
Best Route: Give strong weight to Tulsi Gabbard’s recommendation.
What do we know about the CIA guy Ellis?
Was he brought in by Ratcliffe?
Before being tapped for Deputy CIA he was Chief Legal Counsel for Rumble.
TY.
I would give strong weight to Director Gabbard’s recommendations as well. She’s seen much from inside and knows what the DNI faces.
Given her work product thus far she should be given veto authority in the room.
A big fat NO on Chaffetz.
(I think he likes being on TV too much)
Too much chaff.
🫡
Where did that come from? Whoever suggested Chaffetz needs to be reexamined themselves.
It’s in the GP article:
One person close to the White House even suggested that former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz ….
That looks like a swamp operation to get Chaffetz’s name out there. Now Congress can sing his praises and claim he’ll get confirmed no problem. Same playbook as when they toss out names for Director FBI.
They never go away, never. Dan Quayle is the only one I can think of that truly said good-bye to politics and ties, at least best I know of.
I am surprised Rooster Head hasn’t popped up.
Heck NO on Stefanik! I think she was the one who nominated Kevin McCarty for House Speaker SEVERAL times. If so, there’s no possible way I’d support this choice.
Good to see we are getting depth of options in all postitions as the president continues to build solid infrastructure in the murky swamp.
Do not discount Rep. Elise Stefanik from Upstate New York. She, like fellow Republican Lee Zeldin, has been fighting to keep NY in the power structure. Horrible to watch the crazy woman Governor Hochul running things into the ground now. I will always be a fan of Stefanik as when she quizzed the Harvard U. “President” Claudine Gay and the other Ivy League Presidents in the committee hearing that day. Gay was gone by the New Year! Stefanik is an Alumna of Harvard but the University removed her from a committee after that. But she had nailed the problem: Diversity! She’s young and strong, so KEEP HER!
never really liked Stefanik. She’s had her time against President Trump.
Isn’t she the one SD commonly posts on here from the hearing where she exposed the Comey lies?
No politicians, please. They are very reluctant to prosecute the deep state. They view EVERYTHING as political (negotiable).
Exactly so….with few exceptions
Tulsi Gabbard being one of them.
Well, she was targeted by the Deep State and that either makes you compliant or mad enough to fight. She fought.
Sundance, in the paragraph about Stefanik you referred to someone named “Susie Ellis”, and maybe you meant that old dinosaur Susie Wiles, or maybe she got married to an Ellis? Or maybe something’s happened with the White House staff that I’m not aware of . . .
Agree that Stefanik is not a good choice at all.
0.o
Another thing about Stefanik is going back several years she seems like she has a relationship with Dan Goldman wherein they keep secrets or know an inside joke that nobody else is privy to, just an observation made from watching them interact-darty eyes, smirky smiles.
There’s something insincere about her and she tends to tread lightly almost as if she’s afraid to rock the boat or stick her neck out too far.
Dan is just bad company in general.
0.o
We all know who he meant. Do you feel better now?
Stefanik is a creature of the NGO IRI, ie, never to be trusted.
She’s weak. Started out strong and has settled in to the typical political mold. Stefanik is a strong 👎 Same for Cheffetz.
NED
There ya go! No need to give her another thought.
She ought to be at home taking care of her family instead of flitting around the swamp.
And I agree that she is not trustworthy.
0.o
And the odds for each surviving confirmation hearings?
Especially with lame ducks Cornyn, Tillis, Cassidy…and the usual hard core RINOs who take great pleasure throwing their precious spanners in the works? There are undoubtedly more who would be problematic.
Murkowski, Collins, and McConnell.
(I know…the names presented aren’t written in stone. Still, with a cadre of pouting, seething RINO saboteurs, worth thinking about perhaps.)
No problem. If the hearings drag on and various people eliminated, William Pulte can just keep working…
Hobson’s choice.
If I wrote the constitution I’d make primary day your last day to vote on anything if you lost. Same with Nov elections, if you lost you’re no longer voting until replaced. Lame ducks can be treacherous and retaliatory.
“…White House Chief of Staff Susie Ellis…”
Typo?….Susie Wiles.
Stephen Miller
Unlikely to be confirmed but he is sharp and loyal to MAGA principles.
Set up a team, And roll each one of the team in and out as temporary.
Let the acting director has his 120 days then perhaps another until the losing rinos are no longer there to make trouble.
Ask Pete Hegseth, ask CJCS Dan (Raising) Cain for their recommendations from the ranks of the military.
Trump likes to move the chess pieces around and keep everyone off balance. He also likes to give people enough rope to hang themselves, and/or do certain tasks/missions, then move them. So.
As much as I love our President, there have been plenty of times I’ve been disappointed. He always comes around though! He’s never afraid to reverse course or change direction. People say he has a huge ego. Someone with a huge ego won’t correct themselves. I say he has a ton of confidence based on experience.
Allen West.
Dan Bishop is a good guy but we need him in North Carolina . He left the Methodist church in Charlotte when we did over there woke agenda. I do not know how he would perform in the DNI role but I know him not to be afraid of the fight.
Cliff Sims was on the Trump 2020 team. He wrote the book, “Team of Vipers, ” detailing the travails of the campaign and after the inauguration.