No to Susan Rice

Like a bad penny, Susan Rice is back.

If Joe Biden wins the 2020 presidential election, the former U.N. ambassador and national security adviser is positioning herself to be the next secretary of state, a post she was denied in 2013 because of the inaccuracies she told about the 2011 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Rice is working closely with Biden's team and has told the press that she is "very open" to joining a Biden administration. Former President Obama reportedly is urging Biden to nominate Rice as his secretary of state.

Biden has long had a close relationship with Rice and reportedly seriously considered her to be his running mate.

Rice lost out to Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., likely because of the considerable political baggage she carries. Aside from how Rice mishandled the Benghazi terrorist attacks, this baggage includes her role in unprecedented spying on the Trump campaign and transition; unmasking Trump campaign staff from intelligence reports; leaking intelligence to smear Trump staff to the press; and leaving in place investigations of the incoming Trump administration and not telling Trump officials about these investigations.

Let's be absolutely clear: Susan Rice collaborated with President Obama, Vice President Biden, FBI Director Comey, and CIA Director Brennan to weaponize U.S. intelligence agencies, the FBI and the Justice Department to undermine the Trump presidency and interfere with the peaceful transfer of power.

The false Russia collusion hoax that Rice played a central role in promoting dogged Trump throughout his presidency.

Rice's history in the area of competence running throughout her diplomatic and national security career should also be called into question. 

As Joe Biden weighs secretary of state candidates for his presidency (which I hope never occurs), I hope he reviews "Twenty Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Susan Rice" by Jim Geraghty and my sequel to this article, "Five More Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Susan Rice."

Both articles appeared in National Review just this past summer when Biden was considering Rice to be his vice presidential candidate.

The problems with Rice's record that Geraghty and I outlined disqualified her to be vice president and should also prevent her from returning to the U.S. government in any national security post.

If Biden wins the presidential election and nominates Rice to be secretary of state or to another Senate-confirmable national security post, Senate Republicans should use the above articles as their justification for refusing to confirm Rice due to her less-than-competent record and her politicizing of national security.

Fred Fleitz, president of the Center for Security Policy, served in 2018 as deputy assistant to the president and to the chief of staff of the National Security Council. He previously held national-security jobs with the CIA, the DIA, the Department of State, and the House Intelligence Committee. Twitter: @fredfleitz. Read more reports from Fred Fleitz — Click Here Now.