We're loading the complete profile of this person of interest including their biography, achievements, and contributions.
Director of the CIA
Public Views
Experience
Documented career positions
John Lee Ratcliffe is the 25th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), confirmed overwhelmingly by the Senate in January 2025. He holds the unique historical distinction of being the first person ever to serve as both the Director of National Intelligence (which he held during the first Trump administration) and the Director of the CIA. A former U.S. Attorney and Congressman from Texas, Ratcliffe is widely viewed as a stabilizing, yet firmly conservative, force within the intelligence community. Unlike the fiercely disruptive mandate of FBI Director Kash Patel, Ratcliffe promised the Senate an apolitical approach to foreign intelligence gathering. As D/CIA in 2026, he has heavily prioritized integrating artificial intelligence into espionage, expanding risky human intelligence (HUMINT) networks deep within the People's Republic of China, and executing aggressive covert operations targeting transnational cartels and Iranian proxy networks.
AI-powered civic intelligence rating
Confirmed as Director of the CIA in January 2025 with significant bipartisan support (74-25 vote)
First individual in American history to serve as both DNI (2020-2021) and Director of the CIA
As DNI, he successfully elevated the U.S. Space Force as the 18th member of the U.S. Intelligence Community
His initial 2019 nomination for DNI was derailed and temporarily withdrawn after bipartisan concerns were raised that he exaggerated his prosecutorial record regarding anti-terrorism cases as a U.S. Attorney
In early 2025, he faced immense backlash from veteran intelligence officers after complying with a controversial White House Executive Order requiring the CIA to surrender a list of all newly hired agents to the administration, sparking fears that the identities of covert operatives were dangerously compromised
In early 2025, officially revised the CIA's assessment of the origins of COVID-19 to lean toward a laboratory leak in Wuhan, a move heavily criticized by China
News articles featuring John Ratcliffe
Served as U.S. Representative for Texas's 4th Congressional District (2015–2020) and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas
