Passing the Torch: The headline in the conservative Washington Examiner read, “Republicans race to confirm Trump DNI pick Jay Clayton to break spy program gridlock,” which was as good a barometer as any on the reception Trump’s first pick of MAGA hatchetman Bill Pulte to fire Biden holdovers and rifle through the files of U.S. intelligence in search of “rigged elections,” got across Capitol Hill. “The president said Pulte will take over for Tulsi Gabbard on June 19, and his announcement of Clayton’s nomination did not change that timeline,” CBS reported. The Senate Intelligence Committee was so alarmed it swiftly scheduled a June 17 confirmation hearing for Clayton, a registered independent who is currently U.S. Attorney for the powerful Southern District of New York and who headed the S.E.C. in the first Trump administration (during which he filed charges against Elon Musk for distributing misleading information about securing funding for Tesla). The nomination still left a 2-day gap for Pulte to run amok at the ODNI, so Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the committee’s top Democrat, expressed hope that “there was a way that Tulsi Gabbard will stay in her position until we could get [Clayton] confirmed…”
