OP-ED: Confirm John Ratcliffe, the antidote to the poison of Barack Obama and James Clapper

Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Republican from Texas, is the right person to serve as the next director of national intelligence. Ratcliffe appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee for a confirmation hearing on Tuesday, and I urge senators to confirm his nomination.

Ratcliffe has the integrity and experience to restore the confidence the public needs. President Trump understands that we need someone we can trust in leading the intelligence community. As a victim of the politicization that occurred at the highest levels of the intelligence apparatus under former President Barack Obama and his henchman, James Clapper, Trump is bringing in a person who can clean out the riffraff.

Clapper and Obama politicized the position of director of national intelligence and brought the intelligence community into disrepute. Clapper was caught lying about his machinations, including abuses in the FISA process and the infamous Steele dossier used to manipulate the 2016 election against then-candidate Trump.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer once said, "Let me tell you: you take on the intelligence community — they have six ways from Sunday at getting back to you." We have watched the revelations of just how the director of national intelligence can misuse the intelligence assets of the United States against our citizens for political advantage. Ratcliffe will redirect the intelligence community and clean out those who participated in this unacceptable misconduct.

The public expects all political parties to hold our intelligence community to extremely high standards. We trust that our intelligence agents are working every day to protect and defend this nation, not exploiting political differences inside of our own nation. It is time for a new direction in our intelligence. Enter John Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe has had an impressive career that has prepared him to be the director of national intelligence. Before serving in the House of Representatives, he worked as a U.S. Attorney in Texas. In Congress, he has chaired the House Homeland Security Committee's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee.

Besides having excellent credentials, Ratcliffe is worthy of the trust necessary to lead our intelligence community. Trump trusts him. Those who have served with him know that his word is his bond and that he is a man of integrity.

Ratcliffe will not allow the intelligence community to be infected by politics. He can be trusted to tell the truth to the public, his colleagues, and to the president. He can be trusted to protect and defend the Constitution above all else when carrying out his responsibilities.

He is the right person for this extremely powerful and sensitive position. He is a fearless advocate for truth and for this great nation.

John Ratcliffe should sail through his confirmation process. He will be an excellent helmsman of our intelligence community.