Image copyright EPA Image caption Mr Coats has not always seen eye-to-eye with Mr Trump

US President-elect Donald Trump has named Dan Coats as his national intelligence director.

The Indiana ex-senator formerly served on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Mr Trump said Mr Coats would "provide unwavering leadership... and spearhead my administration's ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm".

The appointment comes a day after an intelligence report accused Russia's president of ordering a campaign aimed at helping Mr Trump to victory.

Mr Trump said in a statement that Mr Coats had "clearly demonstrated the deep subject matter expertise and sound judgment required to lead our intelligence community".

A statement from Mr Coats said: "There is no higher priority than keeping America safe, and I will utilise every tool at my disposal to make that happen."

Mr Coats has been a vocal critic of Russia over its 2014 annexation of Crimea.

He will need the Senate to confirm his appointment, replacing James Clapper.

What does the national intelligence director do?

The position of director of national intelligence was created after the 11 September terrorist attacks to improve the US intelligence gathering agencies.

The director is the president's principal adviser on matters on national intelligence, overseeing the National Intelligence Programme, which covers all projects related to the intelligence community.

The post also oversees the US Intelligence Community, the grouping that combines the independent work of 16 agencies, including the CIA.

Who is Dan Coats?

Dan Coats entered Congress in 1981, representing Indiana in the House. He took Dan Quayle's place in the Senate in 1989 when Mr Quayle became President George HW Bush's vice-president.

Mr Coats had earlier served in the US Army in the 1960s and left the Senate in 1998, becoming US ambassador to Germany in the early 2000s.

After that he became a lobbyist for pharmaceutical, defence and energy companies, returning to the Senate in 2010. He did not seek re-election in 2016.

During his time in the Senate he sat on the intelligence committee.

What's his relationship with Mr Trump?

Has not always been easy.

In early 2016 he said: "I am increasingly concerned by Donald Trump's statements and behaviour, and I have serious concerns about his ability to win the general election and provide presidential leadership."

He was also damning about Mr Trump's lewd comments on women from 2005 that were leaked to the press during the election campaign.

On 8 October, he wrote on Twitter that "Donald Trump's vulgar comments are totally inappropriate and disgusting, and these words have no place in our society".

And back in December 2015, when Mr Trump announced his plans to prevent Muslims immigrating to the US, Mr Coats wrote: "Once again, Donald Trump has chosen bombastic rhetoric over sound judgement."

Generally, however, he supported his party's nominee once chosen, publicly criticising former candidate Ted Cruz for refusing to endorse Mr Trump.

What about Russia?

Image copyright AP Image caption Russia's annexation of Crimea drew fierce criticism from Mr Coats

Mr Coats pressed President Barack Obama to punish Russia harshly for its annexation of Crimea.

As a result, Mr Coats was among several lawmakers banned from travelling to Russia.

The matter is key given the new intelligence report that says the Kremlin developed a "clear preference" for Mr Trump during the election.

It said Russia's goals were to "undermine public faith" in the US democratic process and "denigrate" his Democrat opponent Hillary Clinton.

After being briefed on the findings, Mr Trump stopped short of accusing Russia of interfering, saying only that the election outcome was not affected.

So why choose Mr Coats?

The answer may lie not with Mr Trump, but his running mate, vice-president-elect Mike Pence.

Mr Pence was the governor of Indiana - Mr Coats's state.

The two men know each other well - so well that Mr Coats was the senator who seconded Mr Pence's nomination for the Republican vice-presidential candidacy.</s>(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump has selected former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats as director of national intelligence, a person with knowledge of the decision said Thursday.

The move comes amid Trump’s questioning of the U.S. intelligence community’s assessments that Russia interfered with the election on his behalf, and one day before the president-elect is briefed by senior intelligence officials on the Russian hacking allegations.

Coats served as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee before retiring from Congress last year. He also served as U.S. ambassador to Germany.

As director of national intelligence, Coats would oversee an agency created after 9/11 to improve coordination of U.S. spy and law enforcement agencies. The person with knowledge of Trump’s decision was not authorized to discuss the pick publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump has been considering ways to restructure intelligence agencies to streamline operations and improve efficiency. Transition officials have been looking at changes at both ODNI and the CIA, but those plans are said not to be aimed at gutting the intelligence agencies or hampering their capabilities.</s>Indiana Senator Dan Coats speaks briefly with the press following his meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York, New York, USA, 30 November 2016 AALBIN LOHR-JONES / POOL / EPA

“I’m very confident that Senator Dan Coats is the right choice to serve as Director of National Intelligence,” President-elect Trump said in a statement. “Dan has clearly demonstrated the deep subject matter expertise and sound judgment required to lead our intelligence community.”

As director of national intelligence, Coats would serve as the head of the United States’ intelligence community and be the president’s principal adviser on the issue.

Coats will succeed James Clapper, who recently testified in front of Congress that Russia had stepped up its cyber espionage operation in an attempt to undermine the election. A redacted report about the hack and its goals was released on Friday.

First elected to the Senate in 1990 in a special election that filled the seat vacated by Dan Quayle — who departed the Senate to serve as George H. W. Bush’s vice president — Coats won reelection in 1992 before retiring from the Senate in 1998. He then was nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador to Germany in 2001, arriving there mere days before the Sept. 11 terrorism attack.

After departing as ambassador four years later, Coats worked as a prominent lobbyist in Washington D.C. and then decided to run for his former Senate seat in 2010 — an election he won.

Coats again announced his retirement from government in November 2015.

Most recently while in the Senate, Coats served as the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and as a member of the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

“If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, he will provide unwavering leadership that the entire intelligence community can respect, and will spearhead my administration’s ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm,” Trump added in his statement.

In the past year as a senator, Coats has introduced six bills. Only two simple resolutions passed: The first recognized the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race and the other commemorated the bicentennial of the state of Indiana.

Coats will lead an intelligence community that already has a rocky relationship with the president-elect,

as Trump has continued to float doubts about the community’s findings in the Russia hacking investigation.

While testifying before the Armed Services Committee, Clapper stopped short of calling Russia’s interference in the election an act of war, saying that was something for lawmakers to discern.

However, the committee’s chairman, John McCain (R-AZ), maintained that the attack was alarming.

“Every American should be alarmed by Russia’s attacks on our nation. There is no national security interest more vital to the United States of America than the ability to hold free and fair elections without foreign interference,” McCain said in his opening statement during the hearing. “That is why Congress must set partisanship aside, follow the facts, and work together to devise comprehensive solutions to deter, defend against, and, when necessary, respond to foreign cyberattacks.”

On Twitter, Donald Trump seemed more concerned with the intelligence community’s findings that pertained to the legitimacy of his election rather than Russia’s involvement.

The president-elect has maintained a belief that the United States should “move on” from the attack, adding on Saturday that the country will have a good relationship and will work together with Russia under his administration.</s>Then-Indiana Sen. Dan Coats is shown on Capitol Hill in Washington in November. President-elect Donald Trump is planning to appoint former Coats as Director of National Intelligence. [Associated Press]

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday said he wanted retired Sen. Dan Coats to be national intelligence director, describing the former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee as the right person to lead the new administration's "ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm."

Trump's announcement came one day after release of a declassified government report on Russian efforts to influence the presidential election. The report predicts Russia isn't done intruding in U.S. politics and policymaking.

Trump wants to improve relations with Russia and repeatedly has denounced intelligence agencies' assessment that the Kremlin interfered in the election, when he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. But the report released Friday explicitly ties Russian President Vladimir Putin to the meddling and says Russia had a "clear preference" for Trump over Clinton.

Coats, an Indiana Republican, will await Senate confirmation to head the office, which was created after the Sept. 11 attacks to improve coordination among U.S. spy and law enforcement agencies. Coats now finds himself in line to be at the center of an intelligence apparatus that the president-elect has publicly challenged.

Trump said in an early morning statement that Coats "has clearly demonstrated the deep subject matter expertise and sound judgment required to lead our intelligence community." He said Coats "will provide unwavering leadership that the entire intelligence community can respect, and will spearhead my administration's ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm."

Coats, in a statement released by Trump's transition team, said: "There is no higher priority than keeping America safe, and I will utilize every tool at my disposal to make that happen."

Trump's team has been examining ways to restructure intelligence agencies as part of an effort to streamline operations and improve efficiency, but Coats' nomination could ease fears that Trump would push for a significant overhaul.

Coats, 73, is a Capitol Hill veteran who served eight years in the House before moving to the Senate in 1989 to take Dan Quayle's place when Quayle became President George H.W. Bush's vice president. Coats stayed in the Senate until 1998, then left to become a lobbyist.

After serving as U.S. ambassador to Germany under President George W. Bush, Coats joined the international law firm of King & Spalding, helping lead the government affairs division and lobbying for pharmaceutical, defense and energy companies.

Coats, who earned $600,000 in his final 13 months at King & Spalding, downplayed his lobbying work when he returned to Indiana for a successful Senate comeback bid in 2010. He served one term and did not seek re-election last year.

Coats was a vocal critic of Russia and pushed the Obama administration to harshly punish Moscow for its annexation of Crimea in 2014. When the White House levied sanctions, the Kremlin responded by banning several lawmakers, including Coats, from traveling to Russia.

Trump received a briefing Friday from intelligence officials on the classified report about Russian interference in the 2016 election, and he later told The Associated Press that he "learned a lot" from the discussions. But the president-elect declined to say whether he accepted the officials' assertion that Russia had intruded in the election on his behalf.</s>Donald Trump on Saturday confirmed that the former Indiana senator Dan Coats is his nominee to be director of national intelligence, promising “ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm”.

The nomination, which was reported widely this week, came a day after Trump met agency chiefs, including the current director of national intelligence, James Clapper, to discuss those agencies’ conclusion that Russia interfered in the US election in favour of the Republican candidate.

The agencies subsequently released a heavily redacted report detailing their conclusions, in which they said Russian president Vladimir Putin “ordered” the operation to help get Trump elected.

Senior congressional Democrats seized on the report to demand further bipartisan investigation and condemn Trump’s response.

The president-elect did not endorse the agencies’ findings and complained to the New York Times prior to the meeting of a “political witch-hunt” against him.

On Saturday, Trump, true to form, used Twitter to issue comment, having confirmed the nomination of Coats via a statement.



“Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results,” he wrote. “Voting machines not touched!

“Only reason the hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed is that the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed!”

Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the electoral college, by 304 votes to 227. Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3m ballots.

During the campaign Trump alleged, without evidence and to refutation by electoral experts, vast voter fraud in favour of the Democrat. Since the election, he has said that if he had wanted to win the popular vote he would have campaigned harder in the larger states.

It had been reported that Trump, at odds with the US intelligence community over the claims of Russian electoral interference, could scrap or limit the powers of the post of director of national intelligence.

Amid such reports, the NSA director, Adm Mike Rogers, told a Senate committee this week staff at the agency might “walk” if they perceived a lack of support from the White House.

In a statement, Trump said: “[Coats] will provide unwavering leadership that the entire intelligence community can respect, and will spearhead my administration’s ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm.”



Coats said: “A robust and responsible intelligence infrastructure is essential to our homeland security, and if confirmed I will ensure our national security decision-makers have every piece of information they need to protect the American people from the threats facing our nation.”

Coats is a former US representative and ambassador to Germany who retired from the Senate this year. Like the influential vice-president elect, Mike Pence, he is a strong social conservative from Indiana.

Pence, a former US representative, is much more closely tied to congressional Republicans than Trump is and will operate offices on Capitol Hill.

Coats has held views on intelligence and foreign policy that do not tally with those expressed by Trump.

In a November 2015 Senate speech, for example, he said the fight against Islamic State militants should include “Islamists who believe that their faith and their culture is being perverted brutally by Isis”.

He does, however, align with the president-elect on keeping open the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, the subject of intense international pressure over alleged human rights abuses and which the Obama administration has sought to close.

In 2016, Coats called Guantánamo “a valuable tool in our counter-terrorism efforts”.

In 2015, Coats voted against the USA Freedom Act, which curtailed mass domestic surveillance by US agencies as revealed by the leak of National Security Agency files by Edward Snowden.</s>(CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana to serve as director of national intelligence, transition sources confirmed on Thursday.

Coats, who retired from the Senate this month after deciding not to seek re-election last year, would become Trump's principal adviser on intelligence matters and would oversee US intelligence efforts should he be confirmed by the Senate.

Coats previously served in the US Senate from 1989 until 1999 before becoming the US ambassador to Germany in the first term of President George W. Bush's administration. He then returned to the Senate after winning election in 2010.

Coats would step into the role at a time when US intelligence efforts are being intensely scrutinized amid the US intelligence community's conclusions that Russia hacked Democratic Party groups and individuals -- conclusions Trump has repeatedly dismissed.

Coats' selection also coincides with reports that the Trump transition is considering ways to limit the power of the director of national intelligence, which some advisers to the President-elect believe gets in the way of the 16 intelligence agencies it represents.

Sean Spicer, the incoming White House press secretary, stressed on a call with reporters Thursday morning that "all transition activities are for information gathering purposes and all discussions are tentative" as he pushed back on those reports.

"The President-elect's top priority will be to ensure the safety of the American people and the security of the nation and he is committed to finding the best and most effective way to do it. But I want to reiterate, there is no truth to this idea of restructuring the intelligence community infrastructure, it is 100% false," he said.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he'll nominate former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats as national intelligence director.

Trump says in a statement that Coats — a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee before retiring from Congress last year — will lead the new administration's "ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm."

The post requires Senate confirmation. The office was created after the Sept. 11 attacks to improve coordination among U.S. spy and law enforcement agencies.

Trump's announcement comes one day after release of a declassified government report on Russian efforts to influence the presidential election. The report predicts Russia isn't done intruding in U.S. politics and policymaking.

Trump wants to improve relations with Russia and repeatedly has denounced intelligence agencies' assessment that the Kremlin interfered in the election.</s>President-elect Donald Trump has selected former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, a role that would thrust him into the centre of the intelligence community that Trump has publicly challenged, a person with knowledge of the decision said Thursday. Coats served as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee before retiring from Congress last year.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Medincine Hat News.</s>President-elect Donald Trump nominated former Indiana Senator Dan Coats as U.S. director of national intelligence, giving the retired Republican lawmaker oversight of the spy agencies that have drawn skepticism from Trump.

“Dan has clearly demonstrated the deep subject matter expertise and sound judgment required to lead our intelligence community,” Trump said Saturday in a statement. “He will provide unwavering leadership that the entire intelligence community can respect, and will spearhead my administration’s ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm.”

Coats, 73, probably would face close questioning by both Republicans and Democrats about how he views the intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia hacked Democratic Party computer systems in order to meddle in the U.S. presidential campaign, which Trump has repeatedly questioned.

Coats and Trump have offered differing views on Russia. During and after his successful presidential campaign, Trump has expressed admiration for Putin as a strong leader and predicted they can work together on issues such as fighting Islamic State terrorists – a theme he returned to on Saturday.

Coats, meanwhile, was among several U.S. officials who landed on a Kremlin blacklist in 2014, banning them from entry into Russia, for opposing Russia’s seizure of Crimea.

“While I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to go on vacation with my family in Siberia this summer, I am honored to be on this list,” Coats tweeted March 20, 2014. At that time, Coats had co-sponsored a Senate resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea and urging sanctions.

“There are many reasons to love the choice of Dan Coats for DNI, including that he is steely-eyed about the fact that Putin is no friend,” Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska and member of the Senate Judiciary and Armed Services committees, said on Twitter Jan. 5.

Having served as a senator, ambassador and lobbyist, Coats is a known quantity in Washington. As the director of national intelligence, he would oversee coordination of 17 intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, tasked with tracking everything from terrorist operations to foreign military maneuvers.

If confirmed by the Senate, Coats will join a team expected to include retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as national security adviser, Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo as CIA chief and former Gen. James Mattis at the Pentagon.

“If confirmed, I will ensure our national security decision-makers have every piece of information they need to protect the American people from the threats facing our nation,” Coats said. “There is no higher priority than keeping America safe, and I will utilize every tool at my disposal to make that happen.”</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is considering plans to restructure and slim down a top U.S. intelligence agency, a person familiar with the discussions said Thursday. The move comes after Trump questioned the intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered with the presidential election on his behalf.

Trump still is expected to name a Director of National Intelligence, but he is said to be looking at ways to reorganize the agency. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the Sept. 11 attacks to coordinate other U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Trump also is said to be considering changes at the CIA.

Trump transition spokesman Sean Spicer denied Thursday that Trump was considering "restructuring the intelligence community infrastructure." Spicer did not specifically address possible changes to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump was looking at changes to the intelligence agency. The person familiar with the plans said Trump was not intending to gut any intelligence agency, but was looking for ways to streamline operations and improve efficiency. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats is a leading candidate for the post but is also under consideration for an ambassadorship. Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO who ran against Trump in the Republican primary, has also been considered for the job.

Since winning the election, Trump has publicly challenged U.S. intelligence officials' conclusion that Russia meddled in the presidential race to bolster his prospects. A full intelligence report on the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and other groups arrived Thursday at the White House.

Trump was scheduled to be briefed on the report Friday in New York. CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and outgoing DNI James Clapper were among those expected to lay out the report's evidence and conclusions to the president elect.

Clapper was testifying about the Russian hacking Thursday on Capitol Hill. Asked by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., if his office had discussed a restructuring of his department with the Trump transition team, Clapper said, "No, we have not."

Trump has questioned Russia's involvement and challenged the intelligence community's track record, particularly the information that led to the Iraq war. On Wednesday, he appeared to side with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose organization publicly released the hacked Democratic emails. Trump noted in a tweet that Assange said he had not received the materials from Russia.

Trump shifted course Thursday, saying it was "wrong" to say he was in agreement with Assange, adding that he had simply repeated what the WikiLeaks head said. Trump disputed that he was against the intelligence community, writing, "in fact I am a big fan!"
United States President-elect Donald Trump indicates that he will nominate former Indiana senator Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence.