DNI Ratcliffe offers to deliver threat assessment to Congress, partially behind closed doors

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EXCLUSIVE: Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe offered to deliver an annual threat assessment to Congress in a hearing next month, but will keep it partially behind closed doors to protect classified information, Fox News has learned.

Fox News exclusively obtained a letter from Ratcliffe to Senate Intelligence acting Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ranking Member Mark Warner, D-Va., offered to deliver an “open and closed” worldwide threat hearing session during the week of August 3.

RATCLIFFE SWORN IN AS DNI

“During my nomination before your Committee in May, I indicated that, if confirmed, I would appear as the Director of National Intelligence at a worldwide threat hearing,” Ratcliffe wrote. “I remain committed to doing so.”

Ratcliffe said that after “consultation with other Intelligence Community element heads and with consideration for the collective concern about the exchange of information that is inherently classified,” he would appear before the committee in both an open and closed setting— with intelligence community heads like CIA Director Gina Haspel, FBI Director Christopher Wray, NSA Director Paul Nakasone and NGA Director Robert Sharp.

Ratcliffe said that during the open session, the intelligence community “could provide an unclassified statement for the record to provide transparency.”

“Each panel member could also provide individual opening remarks on global threats to more fully meet the public interest,” Ratcliffe wrote.

RATCLIFFE SAYS HE'D LEAVE POLITICS BEHIND AS DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Ratcliffe went on to say that “a closed session with a thorough exchange of classified questions and answers between the panel and Committee members could be conducted to ensure members receive the threat information they need.”

A source familiar with the plans told Fox News Tuesday that Ratcliffe is not the first DNI to suggest a threat assessment be delivered in private, due to the classified nature of material.

During the Obama administration, former DNI James Clapper said he felt “strongly” that he should “refrain from having an open global threat assessment hearing,” and that instead, it should take place in a “closed session.”

Ratcliffe was confirmed to DNI in May, replacing acting DNI Richard Grenell.

During his confirmation hearing in May, Ratcliffe pledged to senators that he’d deliver intelligence information without bias if confirmed for the job. Ratcliffe, who was one of Trump’s fiercest allies during impeachment, said he had the experience to be an independent leader of the nation’s 17 intelligence agencies, given his past work as a federal prosecutor.