Release of more declassified Russia investigation documents hinges on Ratcliffe

The continued release of Russia investigation documents is now in the hands of President Trump's new spy chief.

Former Texas congressman John Ratcliffe was sworn in as director of national intelligence on Tuesday, and it remains to be seen if he will hew closely to the model set by Richard Grenell, who embarked on a declassification spree that revealed long-sought-after secrets about the inquiry.

Ratcliffe, as overseer of the intelligence community’s 17 spy agencies, could make or break what the president and his allies have dubbed "Obamagate," which is centered on the belief that intelligence and law enforcement officials improperly leveraged the government's powerful surveillance capabilities in an effort to undermine Trump's campaign and administration.

“Confronted with a diverse and challenging global threat landscape, my highest priority as Director of National Intelligence is to provide timely, accurate, and objective intelligence to inform the President and policymakers, and ultimately to keep all Americans safe,” Ratcliffe said in a Tuesday statement. “I look forward to leading this team of the world's most talented and effective intelligence professionals with the highest standards of public service and with fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law. As DNI, I will remain dedicated to supporting and defending the indispensable work of Intelligence Community patriots which remains vital to this nation's security and prosperity.”

The Texas Republican also took the opportunity to thank Trump “for trusting me with this solemn duty” and to express appreciation to Grenell “for serving well in an acting capacity these last three months.”

Grenell declared last week that “transparency is a must” as he promised in his final days as acting director of national intelligence to declassify the recorded conversations between retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the possession of ODNI.

On Wednesday, Fox News and the New York Post cited sources claiming Grenell declassified these Flynn-Kislyak transcripts and that it was now up to Ratcliffe as the new head of ODNI to decide whether to release the documents publicly. Fox News also cited a senior intelligence official who said that Grenell had also finished the declassification process for other Russia investigation documents, including one that was “very significant in understanding how intelligence was manipulated to support launching the Russia investigation."

When the Washington Examiner's Rob Crilly asked Trump if he would be willing to release the Flynn-Kislyak transcripts on Wednesday, the president said, "I would like to hear that conversation, yeah, I would like to hear it personally, so whatever they would like me to do, I'll do."

Ratcliffe, first elected to the House in 2014, won his Senate confirmation through a party-line vote of 49-44, becoming the first permanent DNI since the exit of Dan Coats, a former senator from Indiana viewed as an independent DNI who was unafraid of challenging the president.

“John Ratcliffe will lead the Intelligence Community in countering threats from great powers, rogue nations, and terrorists and ensuring that work is untainted by political bias,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said ahead of the vote.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, “The DNI’s role is crucial to our national security, and I look forward to working with Director Ratcliffe as he oversees the efforts of our nation’s 17 intelligence agencies.”

During his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Ratcliffe vowed to speak “truth to power” if confirmed, telling senators he would be a leader of the intelligence community without bowing to any outside influence.

Ratcliffe also committed to informing Congress if the intelligence community concludes the Russians start promoting a candidate during the 2020 election. The ODNI briefed lawmakers in March, saying the intelligence community had not assessed that the Kremlin was backing any particular candidate, and stressed that foreign election interference was “not a Russia-only problem.”

“My views are Russia meddled or interfered with active measures in 2016, they interfered in 2018, and they will attempt to do so in 2020,” Ratcliffe testified, adding, “I’m for safe, secure, credible elections, and I will do everything that I can as DNI to ensure they are not successful.”

Whether Ratcliffe continues to declassify Trump-Russia documents remains an open question.

Earlier this month, Grenell declassified a National Security Agency document containing a list of Obama administration officials, including former Vice President Joe Biden, who were the authorized recipients of information in response to "unmasking" requests that revealed Flynn's identity in surveillance intercepts.

He also released the fully declassified version of the email that Obama national security adviser Susan Rice sent herself about an Oval Office discussion on the FBI's investigation into Flynn was released to the public. He helped declassify dozens of footnotes from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s December report on the FBI's Russia investigations, which revealed that the bureau was aware that British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s unverified anti-Trump dossier may have been compromised by Russian disinformation and used it anyway.

Grenell has been a particular thorn in the side of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, pressuring the California Democrat to release dozens of witness transcripts from the panel’s investigation on Russian election interference, which showed top Obama national security officials saying they did not have direct evidence of Trump-Russia collusion.

He also did more than just shed light on the Trump-Russia investigators, restructuring parts of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and making key staffing decisions.

Grenell said the intelligence community’s top counterintelligence official, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director William Evanina, would carry out all election security intelligence briefings to 2020 candidates and campaigns instead of the FBI or Department of Homeland Security. The ODNI also announced reforms to the National Counterterrorism Center.

Grenell, the first openly gay Cabinet-level official, also engaged in an effort to review how U.S. intelligence agencies can help advance the Trump administration’s goal of decriminalizing homosexuality worldwide.