(WASHINGTON) — Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as director of national intelligence, faced repeated questions from Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday about whether Joe Biden won the 2020 election — with Clayton saying Biden was certified as president, but stopped short of saying he won legitimately.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the committee, asked whether Clayton denied that Biden won the 2020 election.
“I’m not an election denier,” Clayton said. “Joe Biden was certified as the president of the United States.
Independent Sen. Angus King later asked Clayton pointedly: “Who won the 2020 election?”
Clayton danced around the answer multiple times — refusing to say outright that Biden won, while reiterating that he believes Biden was certified.
“He went through our processes, and Joe Biden became the president of the United States,” Clayton said.
King responded that “saying Joe Biden was certified is not an answer.”
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff later said Clayton wasn’t being “honest or forthright” in his responses about Biden’s 2020 election victory.
“You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election. But you ask to lead America’s intelligence community,” Ossoff said. “Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question? To have to indulge the president’s delusions? We know, you know, everybody in this room knows the truthful answer to the question. Why can you not give it?”
Both Republicans and Democrats asked Clayton if he were involved in any way with Trump’s primetime address on Thursday that the president said will be a “very big announcement” that will touch on “free and fair elections.” The announcement is based on information he recently received from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence related to the 2020 election, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Clayton said he is “not involved in that,” affirming that doing so would violate that understanding that he would take no actions that would presume his confirmation as DNI.
Clayton did say that he thought there was room to improve elections and that he would like to work with the committee to do that.
Questions about subpoenas to journalists
Clayton also faced questions about the subpoenas he issued to several journalists at the New York Times last week after the news outlet reported on security concerns involving Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One.
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden questioned Clayton about the subpoenas he issued — as U.S. attorney in Manhattan — to the journalists, asking when he was directed to issue the subpoenas and who asked him to do so.
Clayton responded that the subpoenas are in connection with an “ongoing national security investigation” and reiterated that he respects the First Amendment and the role of the press. But he did not directly answer Wyden’s question.
“Those subpoenas are in connection with an ongoing national security investigation. I’m happy to talk to you and this committee about our approach to the First Amendment and our efforts in all cases to limit to the greatest extent possible, any intrusion into the operation of the free press,” Clayton said.
Clayton later added that he consulted with career prosecutors in his office before making the decision to issue the subpoeanas. He added that he is confident that the procedures in place to protect the First Amendment and journalists were followed.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said the committee was “deeply concerned” with how the process played out, that it “doesn’t sound like the proper independent legal process that we would normally expect for issuance of a subpoena.”
Clayton said that while he understood her concerns, “I want to tell you, I am comfortable with where we are, and I’m comfortable with how we are proceeding from here.”
In a statement on Saturday, a Justice Department spokeswoman said that “reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.”
Clayton, prior to his role as the U.S. attorney, was also the former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Apart from the national security cases he oversaw while serving as U.S. attorney, Clayton also lacks experience in intelligence-gathering and national security matters.
Clayton spent the bulk of his career as a corporate attorney, and prior to his appointment as U.S. attorney last year, lacked meaningful experience in criminal matters.
Clayton will replace the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Trump loyalist Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. Clayton’s hearing came weeks after the president abruptly canceled his previously scheduled confirmation hearing.
Asked about why his hearing was postponed, Clayton said he was “not going to get into private conversations.”
Pulte has been serving as the acting director since June 19. The former DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, announced her intention to resign from the role in May, citing a desire to step away from public service to support her husband following his cancer diagnosis. Gabbard ultimately left the role on June 18, days earlier than planned.
The committee is expected to vote on Clayton’s nomination to be the next DNI some time next week.
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