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Trump Delays Intel Pick to Push Vote 06/17 06:23
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was delaying federal
prosecutor Jay Clayton's nomination to lead the U.S. intelligence community in
a bid to force Congress to act on a voter ID bill that currently lacks enough
support for passage.
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Wednesday that
he was delaying federal prosecutor Jay Clayton's nomination to lead the U.S.
intelligence community in a bid to force Congress to act on a voter ID bill
that currently lacks enough support for passage.
The Republican president said in a social media post just hours before
Clayton's scheduled confirmation hearing that he will keep Bill Pulte, a top
U.S. housing official, as acting director of national intelligence. Democratic
and Republican lawmakers had opposed Trump's selection of Pulte, citing his
lack of known experience in intelligence and his use of his current
administration perch to target perceived adversaries of the president --
resistance that last week forced Trump to turn to Clayton.
The abrupt announcement creates instant uncertainty over the long-term
leadership of the 18-agency intelligence community and dashes hopes for a swift
renewal of a crucial surveillance program that expired in Congress last week
due to bipartisan anger over Trump's pick of Pulte.
That tool, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, permits
spy agencies to collect without a warrant the communications of targeted
foreigners located outside the United States. National security officials
across both major political parties have for years described Section 702 as
vital for gathering intelligence that can disrupt terror attacks and espionage
operations, though some lawmakers and civil liberties advocates have raised
concerns over the government's use of information about Americans that is
incidentally collected through the program.
Clayton had been set to appear on Wednesday for a Senate confirmation
hearing that was fast-tracked because of the program's lapse. Democrats had
said they would not renew the expired surveillance programs until Trump
withdrew the selection of Pulte.
Trump's post suggests that debate to revive Section 702 could be
indefinitely postponed. Lawmakers have sounded the alarm about the government
operating without congressional authorization of the powerful spy tool.
A court order from last March certified that the program could continue for
another 12 months, though it's possible that communications companies could
challenge the government's authority to force them to cooperate and share data.
In his social media post, Trump accused Democrats of breaking a deal to
renew the program after he nominated Clayton. Trump also said he does not want
to remove Clayton from his current position as U.S. attorney for the Southern
District of New York before his replacement, James McDonald, is approved.
McDonald was named to the Justice Department post on Saturday.
And Trump added another condition: linking his approval of the surveillance
program to the passage of a bill requiring people to show ID to vote.
"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," Trump said, using the acronym for the surveillance
program and his name for the voter ID bill.
The Republican-controlled Congress has not acted on the voting bill because
it does not have enough support in either chamber, particularly from Democrats.
Trump made the announcement in Evian-les-Bains, France, where he was
participating in the final day of the Group of Seven summit of leading
industrial economies.
The intelligence director position became available after Tulsi Gabbard, who
had held the job, announced last month that she was resigning to spend time
with her husband as he fights cancer.
Clayton, a chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump's
first term, has spent the last 14 months as the top federal prosecutor in
Manhattan, one of the Justice Department's premier posts.
His office during that time facilitated the unsealing of thousands of pages
of court records from the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine
Maxwell, documents that were made public as part of the Justice Department's
release of records related to the late sex offender and his longtime confidant.
Clayton has also overseen the prosecution of former Venezuelan President
Nicols Maduro and Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, on drug trafficking charges.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial
on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was convicted of luring teenage girls to be
sexually abused by Epstein but insists she's innocent. Maduro and his wife have
protested their capture and said they're not guilty.
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