On June 11, Trump nominated United States attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton to be Director of National Intelligence. This comes in the aftermath of Trump’s attempt to have loyalist Bill Pulte lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which drew significant backlash from Congress. Trump’s installment of Pulte delayed Clayton’s confirmation process.
Trump selected Clayton despite his lack of intelligence experience. In Trump’s first term, Clayton served as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and was previously Head of law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. Clayton initially drew bipartisan support, having been confirmed as attorney for New York’s Southern District by a 61-37 vote, due to a number of Democrats supporting him. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe recommended that Trump select Clayton. Democratic Representative Jim Himes and Senator Mark Warner also made favorable statements regarding Clayton’s selection as ODNI Director.
Clayton faced headwinds on July 15, however, when Senators Jon Ossoff and Warner asked Clayton who had won the 2020 Presidential Election. Clayton refused to answer, implying that loyalty to Trump and his false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen from him was more important than the simple truth and democratic institutions. Clayton also claimed to be ignorant to former Director Tulsi Gabbard’s presence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) raid of Fulton County’s elections facilities, which was based on Trump’s conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He was also scrutinized over his involvement with subpoenas sent against New York Times journalists who investigated Qatar’s Air Force One jet bribe.
Despite this denial of basic reality, Clayton, on July 28, was confirmed in a 51-47 vote, this time without any Democratic votes.
