Multiple news outlets are reporting that former Indiana Senator Dan Coats will be President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence.  The Associated Press quoted anonymous “transition officials” as saying that pick could be officially announced later this week.

Coats spent 18 years in Congress – from 1981 to 1999 and returning in 2011.  He served as the US ambassador to Germany under President George W. Bush.  Among his congressional committee assignments was time spent on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Trump’s decision on a national intelligence director comes while he’s been sharply critical of the nation’s intelligence agencies and has cast doubt about their conclusion that Russia was behind hacking meant to influence last year’s election.