{"id":436,"date":"2026-06-12T16:08:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T16:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=436"},"modified":"2026-06-12T16:08:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T16:08:39","slug":"critics-view-trumps-new-dni-pick-jay-clayton-as-unqualified-picked-for-loyalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=436","title":{"rendered":"Critics View Trump\u2019s New DNI Pick Jay Clayton as Unqualified, Picked for Loyalty"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<!-- begin partial\/series-card --><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><i><span>Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a <\/span><\/i><i><span>quick donation<\/span><\/i><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=434\">Anti-Austerity Protests Rock World Cup Kick-Off in Mexico<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Thursday, President Donald Trump nominated U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to become the next Director of National Intelligence (DNI), one of the top federal roles for advising the president on matters of national security. <\/p>\n<p>The selection of Clayton comes as Trump has been widely criticized for selecting Bill Pulte, currently head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), to be \u201cacting\u201d DNI, despite Pulte having zero experience in the realm of national security. According to the statute governing the position, the DNI is required to have \u201cextensive national security experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump has indicated that, despite that limitation, Pulte will remain acting DNI until Clayton is confirmed. <\/p>\n<p>But like Pulte, Clayton has almost no national security experience. His positions in government have sometimes touched such matters, but only in small ways \u2014 and definitely not to the \u201cextensive\u201d degree the law demands.<\/p>\n<p>Clayton is currently the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). He previously served as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump\u2019s first term in office. Beyond those roles, most of his legal experience has been as a \u201cconsigliere\u201d lawyer to banking and investment companies. Indeed, Clayton is the first person to lead SDNY who hadn\u2019t previously served as a prosecutor. <\/p>\n<p>His most notable action under Trump is perhaps signing off on an indictment against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which led to U.S. troops kidnapping Maduro from his country earlier this year, a move that has been widely condemned as a violation of international law.<\/p>\n<p>His strongest qualification is likely his deep loyalty to Trump, including peddling baseless conspiracy theories pushed by the president. For example, in a <em>CNBC <\/em>interview earlier this week, Clayton endorsed Trump\u2019s false claims about election fraud in California.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=432\">A Montana Firm Run by a Trump Donor Receives Billions in Border Wall Contracts<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re doing an absolutely terrible job, and the American people are right to question it,\u201d Clayton said, without providing proof of any improprieties in the election whatsoever. <\/p>\n<p>Critics are lambasting the pick as yet another Trump nomination based on loyalty rather than actual credentials.<\/p>\n<p>Like Pulte, \u201cClayton has no relevant intelligence experience, either,\u201d wrote political observer and military veteran Allison Gill on her \u201cMueller She Wrote\u201d account on Bluesky.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJay Clayton does not have the \u2018extensive expertise\u2019 in intelligence the law says the DNI must possess,\u201d <em>Mother Jones <\/em>Washington bureau chief David Corn noted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen first eyed for SDNY US Attorney, Clayton\u2019s predecessor Geoff Berman called him \u2018unqualified,&#8217;\u201d legal journalist and editor in chief of <em>All Rise News<\/em> Adam Klasfeld said. \u201cBut Clayton has Trump\u2019s most prized qualification: He just boosted election conspiracy theories on TV.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump is in countless wars but still picks a DNI who knows nothing about intelligence,\u201d wrote historian Sanho Tree, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. \u201cThis is dangerous and illegal malpractice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=430\">\u201cWe Will Be Taking Kharg Island\u201d \u2014 Trump Threatens Invasion of Iran<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like Trump\u2019s pick for \u201cacting\u201d DNI Bill Pulte, Jay Clayton does not have an \u201cextensive\u201d national security background.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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