Nancy Pelosi Slams Director Of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe For Ending Congressional Briefings


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a letter on Tuesday to Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, threatening to compel his compliance if he does not resume briefing Congress on election security issues.

Pelosi accused Ratcliffe of abandoning his responsibilities and failing to inform Americans and their elected representatives of the security threats to the upcoming election.

“It is all the more troubling as it comes only weeks before the American people begin casting votes and within weeks of the Intelligence Community (IC) affirming publicly that our elections and American voters are once again the target of foreign interference.”

Pelosi’s threat comes after Radcliffe announced an end to in-person briefings on election security, Vanity Fair reported. The change — which the publication called an “unusual shift” — has sparked pushback from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

In her letter, Pelosi noted that the shift comes just weeks after information suggested that Russia is actively engaging in intervention activities. She argued that Americans have a right to be informed of the intelligence on possible influences on their votes and pushed for a reversal of the recent policy change before issuing Ratcliffe a threat.

“If you are unwilling to resume election-related intelligence briefings to Congress, we will have no choice but to consider the full range of tools available to compel compliance.”

During a Sunday appearance on Fox News, Ratcliffe defended the decision and claimed that intelligence is currently being leaked and threatening to compromise America’s ability to gather such information.

“I’m going to take the measures to make sure that that stops,” he said.

Despite Ratcliffe’s claim, Vanity Fair called the timing of the policy change “suspicious” and noted the attorney’s loyalty to Trump.

As reported by Bangor Daily News, the Senate Intelligence Committee last month released its final report on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and concluded that the Kremlin tried to tilt the scales to the president. In addition, the report claimed that Russia is actively engaging in election intervention efforts in the 2020 election.

William Evanina, one of America’s top intelligence officials, claimed that Russia isn’t alone in its pursuits. According to Evanina, Iran and China and engaging into their own interference efforts. But unlike the Kremlin, they are allegedly working against the real estate mogul.

Trump and his allies have faced scrutiny for their attempts to thwart Democrat-led expansions of mail-in voting. According to critics, Trump is attempting to rig the election in his favor. Notably, Pelosi likened the attacks on vote-by-mail as threats to the United States Constitution.

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