Ratcliffe urges Biden to 'be honest' about China threat, warns against 'politicizing intelligence'

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DNI Ratcliffe worries Democratic lawmakers weaponizing briefing intel

Ratcliffe scales back election security briefings; Chad Pergram reports.

EXCLUSIVE: Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe warned the incoming Biden administration against “politicizing intelligence,” urging them to “be honest about” and “acknowledge” that China is the “greatest national security threat that we face.”

In an exclusive interview with Fox News following the publication of an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that outlined the threat China poses to the United States, Ratcliffe said he has a “unique vantage point” and the “ability to see more threat information than anyone else.”

“The intelligence is so clear that China is our greatest threat,” Ratcliffe said.

“People that equate other things, or say, oh, you know, Russia is a greater threat, they are politicizing intelligence,” Ratcliffe said. “I am hoping now that the election is over, now that people have voted, and if there is a Biden administration, that they will get past politicizing intelligence and be honest about China and acknowledge that China, and China alone is the greatest national security threat that we face.”

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Ratcliffe told Fox News that China intends “to dominate economically, militarily and technologically, and is the only country capable of challenging American supremacy across the board.”

“All of the threat streams that we have, from all aspects, militarily, economically, supply chain issues, foreign investment, technologically, cyber issues, cyber warfare, 5G, telecommunications — China is in all of those and they are the only country to be in that space and the only country that threatens America supremacy,” Ratcliffe told Fox News.

When asked whether the United States was in an offensive or defensive position with regard to China, Ratcliffe said the U.S. remains in an offensive place.

“Generals will always tell you that you want to fight from the high ground because it is easier to fight downhill than it is to fight uphill,” Ratcliffe said. “The urgency here is, in part, because we still are the dominant superpower. China wants to change that, but right now we have the ability to meet this challenge fighting downhill.”

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"What I don't want is for us not to take advantage and do that," Ratcliffe continued. "We don't ever want to be in a position that we're fighting uphill. We don't want to looking up at China."

The Biden transition team declined to comment on Ratcliffe's warning. 

Biden, last month, announced his appointment of Avril Haines as nominee for director of national intelligence.

Haines, who would be the first woman to serve as DNI, was a former deputy director of the CIA and former deputy national security adviser to then-President Obama.

“To lead our intelligence community, I did not pick a politician or a politician figure,” Biden said, in an apparent swipe at President Trump, who has been criticized for appointing "political" figures to lead the intelligence community. “I picked a professional.”

Biden described Haines as “a fierce advocate for telling the truth and levelling it with decision-makers.”

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“I know because I’ve worked with her for over a decade,” he added. “Brilliant. Humble.”

Haines, upon accepting the nomination, said that she “has never shied away from speaking truth to power” and said “that will be my charge as director of national intelligence.”