Trump picks John Ratcliffe to be CIA director

(Reuters) -U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had picked former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.Ratcliffe, a close ally of Trump, served as director of national intelligence at the end of his first term. Ratcliffe was confirmed as the nation's top spy in May 2020, eight months before Trump left office. A former member of the House of Representatives and U.S. attorney for Texas, he received no support from Senate Democrats during his confirmation.

As DNI, Ratcliffe was accused by Democrats and former intelligence officials of declassifying intelligence for use by Trump and his Republican allies to attack political opponents, including Joe Biden, then Trump's rival for the presidency, a charge Ratcliffe's office has denied.

News outlets, including Reuters, also reported on concerns that Ratcliffe exaggerated his counter-terrorism experience as a federal prosecutor in Texas.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Ismail Shakil; Writing by Caitlin Webber; Editing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio)