President-elect Joe Biden
Joe BidenOutgoing Capitol Police Chief accuses House and Senate security officials of hampering efforts to summon the National Guard: WaPo PGA announces plans to transfer the 2022 championship from Trump’s property Former Democratic Senator: Biden Department of Justice can investigate meeting speakers on January 6 MORE early Monday, he announced former Deputy Secretary of State William Burns as his candidate for director of the CIA.
Biden’s transition team noted that Burns, a career diplomat who retired in 2014 after serving in the United States Foreign Service for 33 years, has held various national security positions in five Democratic and Republican administrations. Burns was a US ambassador to Russia between 2005 and 2008 and was a US ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to 2001.
Biden’s team called Burns “a consummate and full of integrity professional who will bring the facts and independence that our national security requires”.
“Bill Burns is an exemplary diplomat with decades of experience on the world stage in keeping our people and our country safe and protected,” said Biden in a statement.
“He shares my deep belief that intelligence must be non-political and that the dedicated intelligence professionals who serve our nation deserve our gratitude and respect. Ambassador Burns will bring the knowledge, judgment and perspective we need to prevent and address threats before they reach our shores, “Biden added. “The American people will sleep soundly with him as our next CIA director.”
Burns currently serves as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank.
A longtime critic of Trump-era foreign policy, Burns wrote an essay for The Atlantic last August that was recirculated as President Trump
Donald TrumpOutgoing Capitol Police Chief accuses House and Senate security officials of hampering efforts to summon the National Guard: WaPo PGA announces plans to transfer the 2022 championship from Trump’s property Former Democratic Senator: Biden Department of Justice can investigate speakers on January 6 for MORE encouragement refuses to accept the results of the presidential election.
In the play, Burns wrote that Trump “at best … would be consumed by efforts to rationalize his defeat and paint the election as fraudulent; at worst, he will try to contest or undermine the outcome. ”
–Zack Budryk contributed to this report, which was last updated at 7:12 am