Joseph Maguire, the current head of the National Counterterrorism Center, has been designated by President Donald Trump as the new Acting Director of National Intelligence
On August 15, Retired Navy Vice Adm. Maguire will replace Dan Coats, who is still the director of the organization and who recently announced his retirement,
Trump wrote on Twitter that “Admiral Maguire has a long and distinguished career in the Military, retiring from the U.S. Navy in 2010. He commanded at every level (…) I have no doubt that he will do a great job!”
President Donald Trump did not clarify whether he is thinking of him to fill the position on a permanent basis, because his appointment is on an interim.
Maguire’s career during his 36 years in the Navy involves several military command posts in the Naval Special Warfare Command, the naval component of the U.S. Special Operations Command.
In December 2018, he was confirmed as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, an agency in charge of preventing terrorist attacks at national and international levels.
The bad relationship with Trump anticipated the departure of 76-year-old Coats as Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The Michigan-born career diplomat had notorious disagreements with the President due to the Kremlin’s alleged interference in last elections.
Coats, who since 2017 has been handling sophisticated state data because he is in charge of the National Antiterrorist Centre, has had confidence in the intelligence reports drawn up by the FBI and the CIA, which point to Moscow trying to influence the elections, a theory that the president has rejected on many occasions.
As Trump announced yesterday, along with Coats will also leave office his “number two”, Sue Gordon.
“Sue Gordon is a great professional with a long and distinguished career. I have gotten to know Sue over the past two years and have developed great respect for her,” Trump said.
At the end of July, Trump nominated Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence to replace Coats, but he withdrew his candidacy a few days later.
Ratcliffe received numerous criticisms after his nomination for his harsh treatment of the former special prosecutor of the Russian plot, Robert Mueller, during his recent appearance in Congress.
Translated by: José Espinoza
Noticias Newswire
