Dan Coats sworn in as national intelligence director

WASHINGTON — Former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats has been sworn in as the nation’s top spy chief.

Vice-President Mike Pence administered the oath of office after the Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Coats’ nomination by a vote of 85-12.

Coats will be President Donald Trump’s top intelligence official overseeing 16 other intelligence agencies.

He’ll also sit between America’s intelligence workers and Trump. The president has harshly criticized the intelligence community for past failures, and for its assessment that Russia interfered in the election in an effort to tilt the outcome in Trump’s favour.

Coats will be the fifth person to serve as director of national intelligence, a job the U.S. created after the 9-11 attacks.

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He succeeds James Clapper, who retired just before Trump took office.

The Associated Press