Trump’s DNI pick Jay Clayton locks horns with Democratic senator in fiery confirmation hearing clash

President Donald Trumps pick to lead the nations intelligence agencies appeared in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday for a relatively smooth hearing that quickly turned explosive just before it ended. 

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, who currently serves in the Southern District of New York, was tapped by Trump to be the permanent nominee as the director of national intelligence (ODNI) after former DNI Tulsi Gabbard stepped down from the role last month.

During the hearing, he was grilled by several Democratic senators to confirm who won the 2020 election, after Gabbard and her interim replacement, Bill Pulte, seemingly questioned the results, as Trump has done before. 

Most of the senators accepted Clayton’s response — that former President Joe Biden received the most Electoral College votes and the election was certified constitution. But upstart Senator Jon Ossoff, D-Ga, the final committee member to ask Clayton questions, would not let the issue go. 

“Who won the 2020 election?” Ossoff asked. 

“You know, we’re not — I’m not — I’m not going to do this with you,” Clayton replied. 

“This is a job interview. We’ve established that you have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee,” said Ossoff. “You do have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee. Who won the 2020 election?”

“Like I said, I’m not I’m not going to get into that with you,” said Clayton. 

“But you do have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee,” said Ossoff.

“Is anything that I just said not honest or forthright?” asked Clayton.

“You’re not being honest or forthright,” Ossoff insisted, before repeating the question: “Who won the 2020 election?”

“We can keep doing this,” said Clayton.

“Well, we’re going to keep doing it because you’re not being honest and forthright,” said Ossoff.

“I’m not going to engage in the theater,” the DNI nominee said in an attempt to shut down the back-and-forth. 

Ossoff eventually let up after Clayton continued to say that he had already answered the question. 

After that exchange, Ossoff began another heated exchange where he pressed Clayton on whether he knew that Gabbard observed an FBI raid of a Fulton County, Georgia election warehouse in January. 

When Clayton replied that Ossoff had made him aware of that during a meeting in Ossoff’s office Tuesday, the answer wasn’t satisfactory to the Senator. The pair engaged in another fiery volley over that issue, until Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., banged his gavel, shouting at the Georgia senator that his time for questioning Clayton was up. 

“Jay Clayton is a patriot and highly qualified nominee,” Cotton said on X the day before the hearing. 

“In his service to the people of New York, Mr. Clayton has deep experience combatting a wide range of national security threats,” he continued. “I look forward to his hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow.”

But Clayton, who served as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during Trumps first term, was caught in a political firestorm roiling through the Senate last month that he had no part of.

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And if he survives the process — several Democrats still serving in the Senate voted to confirm him as SEC chair — lawmakers are hopeful that it will again set up a path to turn a key counter-terrorism tool back on.

Democrats were enraged at Trump for tapping Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to be the <a href