Trump taps Wall Street top cop Jay Clayton as intelligence chief

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he is nominating Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence, following backlash over his selection of housing regulator Bill Pulte to serve in the role on an acting basis.

Clayton has been serving as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan and was chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term.

“I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible,” Trump said on social media.

Clayton as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York is heading the nation’s most prominent federal prosecutor’s office. Its jurisdiction includes Manhattan, making Clayton the de facto sheriff of Wall Street, with the office handling many of the most high-profile cases involving the financial industry.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Thursday expressed confidence that Clayton could be approved by the Senate quickly, noting that he had been through the confirmation process for other posts.

“My assumption is, at least, that if we can get the nomination of the paperwork here, we can move fairly quickly,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump stunned Washington earlier this month when he selected Pulte — a loyalist who has used his perch as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to launch investigations into perceived political adversaries — to take over as acting spy chief and replace outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard. Pulte lacked any military or intelligence experience for a role that would have him overseeing the nation’s myriad spy agencies — and his selection drew pushback from both parties.

Short-Term Pick

Even as Trump stressed that Pulte was only a short-term pick for the slot, top Senate Republicans had urged the president to quickly find a permanent spy chief, expressing concern that failing to do so could endanger efforts to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect foreign nationals’ communications overseas.

As late as Wednesday, Trump was praising Pulte, whose start date he moved up from June 30 to June 19. The president had sought to allay concerns by vowing in a social media post to nominate a permanent DNI “with national security experience” as he pushed for a short-term extension of the spy powers measure.

Democrats threatened to withhold their votes to extend the FISA provision before its slated expiration on Friday if Pulte’s appointment went forward. The president has asked Congress to temporarily extend the expiring surveillance powers while he searched for a permanent pick.

The surveillance authority is slated to lapse after the House failed to pass a three-week extension on a 198-218 vote Thursday and departed for a 12-day recess, hours before Trump announced Clayton.

Top Prosecutor

Clayton has not served in the intelligence community but has a record in public service that is likely to assuage some lawmakers who questioned Pulte’s qualifications for the role. After his stint overseeing the SEC ended, Clayton served as Apollo Global Management Inc.’s independent chair while returning to New York-based law firm Sullivan & Cromwell as a senior adviser.

Clayton took over the U.S. attorney’s office after a tumultuous period that saw veteran prosecutors there pitted against Justice Department officials in Washington over the corruption case against former New York City Mayor Eric Adams. When Trump nominated him for the position, he faced pushback from New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who could have blocked his confirmation. Clayton was appointed interim U.S. attorney.

The longtime corporate lawyer went into the office with an agenda to focus on violent crime, including human trafficking and gun crime, and policing financial markets. Under Clayton’s leadership, his office has brought cases against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the founders of First Brands and Tricolor.

Clayton has maintained close ties with the president, a relationship partly forged on the golf course. He has only been U.S. attorney for a little over a year. Many attorneys stay for the full presidential term of four years, if not longer.

Gabbard has said she is leaving her post to help her husband as he confronts a bone-cancer diagnosis.

FISA Extension

It remains unclear if Clayton’s selection will help Trump secure a quick extension of the spy powers authorization.

Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, told reporters that his caucus would continue to block any extension of U.S. surveillance powers so long as Pulte is still set to become acting spy chief on June 19.

“It doesn’t matter what else they do. Pulte’s gotta be gone,” Schumer told reporters Thursday. He declined to offer an opinion about Clayton when pressed.

Republicans lack the votes to extend it on their own, and Senate Intelligence Committee leaders have worked for months to secure a bipartisan deal for a long-term extension of the controversial program. Privacy advocates say the powers facilitate warrantless surveillance of Americans in contact with foreigners.

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(With assistance from Erik Wasson, Aidan Williams, Bob Van Voris and Ava Benny-Morrison.)