Ex-Sen. Dan Coats leading contender to for top intel position: report

Former Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) is President-elect Donald Trump’s top choice to be director of national intelligence, NBC News reported Wednesday.

Trump met with Coats in November at Trump Tower, fueling reports at the time that he was a leading contender for the position.

“I was invited here just to sit down and discuss a number of issues that the president would be facing and I gave him some of my years of experience in terms of what I thought they would be dealing with and made some suggestions,” Coats told reporters at the time.

{mosads}Coats, who did not seek reelection in November, was a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The director of national intelligence oversees the sixteen agencies within the intelligence community.