Ambassador Richard Grenell lacks the experience to be the director of national intelligence and President Donald Trump should have stuck with Joseph Maguire, says Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
"I would have much preferred that the president nominate acting director Maguire for the post," Collins said Monday, according to Politico. "I care deeply about that position and believe the person needs experience in the intelligence community which regrettably Amb. Grenell does not have."
Trump replaced Maguire as acting DNI with Grenell after a controversial briefing to the Democrat-held House that suggested Russia was working to meddling in the 2020 election to support Trump.
Collins, who is on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has not been afraid to break from her party at times, serving as a moderate. She also helped write the law that created the director of national intelligence in 2004, according to the report.
Grenell had been approved by the Senate as the ambassador to Germany, making him eligible to be acting DNI without Congressional approval.
Trump is still weighing "four great candidates" to fill the job permanently, Politico reported.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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