WASHINGTON — Dan Coats took on many different roles in his four decades in national and international politics, and all of them seem to be colliding at once as Russia invades Ukraine, as Europe and former President Donald Trump respond, and the Senate starts a historic Supreme Court confirmation process.
He was a senator from Indiana, a member of the Intelligence Committee, an ambassador to Germany, a director of national intelligence under Trump and a so-called “sherpa” who guided two Supreme Court nominees around the Senate.
The 78-year-old establishment Republican had some blunt assessments on those issues in a phone interview, as the nation and the world move into a new future and midterm election season.
