DNI Nominee Jay Clayton Won't Say Joe Biden Won in 2020
Getting a job in the intelligence community apparently requires some serious semantic gymnastics. Trump's DNI pick just did backflips to avoid saying who won the 2020 election.
To get one of the most powerful spy jobs on the planet, one must first master the art of not answering extremely basic questions. Jay Clayton, the nominee to lead the U.S. intelligence community, just had his Senate job interview, and things got incredibly awkward real fast.
Senator Jon Ossoff asked him point-blank who won the 2020 election. Instead of just saying the name of the guy currently sitting in the Oval Office, Clayton refused to directly say Joe Biden won the 2020 election, opting instead for the classic linguistic shield of saying he was "certified" and that he is "not an election denier."
The grilling didn't stop at ancient election history. Senators also pushed him on why New York Times journalists were subpoenaed last week after reporting on security flaws in the new Air Force One. Clayton basically hit them with the classic "I can't talk about specifics, but I love the First Amendment" routine.
Meanwhile, because of all this political theater, the country's actual spy powers are currently in limbo. Congress is refusing to renew key foreign surveillance programs under FISA Section 702 until they get a permanent director in office. So, while politicians argue over who won an election from four years ago, the national security apparatus is running on dial-up.
Asking the future head of global spy networks to recognize a public election is apparently too classified of a request.
Source: The Hill
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