INTELLIGENCE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “For a brief period this week, the U.S. intelligence apparatus was just days away from losing decades of experience at the top, with nobody in the wings poised to take over. Now intelligence veterans are expressing relief at President Donald Trump’s decision to tap former Navy Vice Adm. Joseph Maguire as the nation’s interim spy chief — calling Maguire a steadying hand for an administration that has frequently left its national security leadership in flux…Trump announced Thursday [8-8-19] that Maguire will become acting director of national intelligence starting Aug. 15, when current Director Dan Coats and his deputy, Sue Gordon, are both set to depart. Trump turned to Maguire after the failure of his initial plan to nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) as Coats’ replacement, which had fueled concerns that the president was seeking to install a partisan loyalist in a job created to address the intelligence failures exposed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Maguire, 67, is the current leader of the terrorism intelligence center, which falls under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.”
–Martin Matishak, “Temporary spy chief calms unease over Trump’s shakeup — for now,” Politico, August 9, 2019 6:26 pm