1/ Trump dropped his plan to nominate John Ratcliffe as director of national intelligence, "rather than going through months of slander and libel." Ratcliffe withdrew from consideration following bipartisan questions about his qualifications, pushback over whether he had exaggerated his résumé that required his aids to walk back his claim that as a federal prosecutor he had won convictions in terrorism cases, and former intelligence officials expressing concern that he might politicize the job. Trump claimed that Ratcliffe, who will remain in Congress, "is being treated very unfairly by the LameStream media." Ratcliffe was Trump's pick to succeed Dan Coats, who is stepping down as director of national intelligence on Aug. 15. (New York Times / CNN / CNBC / NBC News / Washington Post)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/08/02/day-925/