Trump's slams GOP over Bill Pulte as acting DNI and FISA row; ‘Republicans fell into trap’ | Hindustan Times – Hindustan Times
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President Donald Trump has pushed to delay the nomination of Jay Clayton as the next intelligence director, keeping loyalist Bill Pulte on as acting DNI. On Truth Social, Trump issued a message pressuring Senate Republicans to delay Clayton’s confirmation, turning tables on the plan to push this through quickly before Pulte came on in an acting basis.
Trump said on his social media platform “The Republicans agreed with Dumocrats to remove very fair, and talented, William Pulte, from serving as Acting DNI in return for getting FISA approved by the Dumocrats.”
He added, “However, the Republicans moved so fast with the hearings of the Great Jay Clayton, current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, that Pulte would be gone before the Dumocrats would vote on FISA. Now, the Dumocrats are saying they will vote against FISA — So, the Republicans wound up having fulfilled their commitment, but Dumocrats broke the Deal,” blaming the Democrats for the opposition to FISA.
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Further, Trump said “the newly nominated U.S. Attorney, Jamie McDonald, must be confirmed and blue slipped. Because of the ridiculous views of Republicans on blue slipping (Dumocrats are often willing to nix it), I may not be able to get the extraordinary Sullivan & Cromwell Partner, Jamie, approved, and I don’t want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place.”
He added “Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it.”
“Not complicated, actually, the Republicans fell into a trap. Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney,” he continued. The Republican president further said “Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence” in the meantime.
While Trump tried to push for an overhaul of the voting measures, it failed in the Republican-controlled chamber earlier this month. Despite Trump’s current ire against his party’s leaders as well, who he said ‘fell into a trap’, several Republican and Democrat lawmakers have said that Pulte is unqualified for the post. He served as Trump’s housing finance chief and has no national security experience. Further, many fear Pulte would go after Trump’s perceived political enemies as the DNI.
(With Bloomberg inputs)
Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.
