Lawmakers grill national intelligence director nominee at confirmation hearing

+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Lawmakers grill national intelligence director nominee at confirmation hearing Jay Clayton, President Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, faced questions about the president's claims of election fraud at a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday Politics Lawmakers grill national intelligence director nominee at confirmation hearing July 16, 20264:41 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Greg Myre , Leila Fadel Lawmakers grill national intelligence director nominee at confirmation hearing Listen &middot; 3:44 3:44 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5894893/nx-s1-9850518" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Jay Clayton, President Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, faced questions about the president's claims of election fraud at a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday Sponsor Message Transcript LEILA FADEL, HOST: A major line of questioning for President Trump's pick to lead the intelligence community in 2026 was the election results from 2020. A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: Jay Clayton is the nominee for director of national intelligence. He faced senators on Wednesday in a confirmation hearing. The questions centered on Trump's repeated false claims that there was election fraud in 2020. FADEL: For more, we're joined by NPR's Greg Myre. Good morning, Greg. GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Leila. FADEL: OK, so we've heard President Trump assert repeatedly and without evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. So when Clayton was asked about this, what did he say? MYRE: Yeah, the Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee repeatedly asked Clayton straight up, who won the 2020 election? Clayton said he wasn't an election denier and that Joe Biden was certified as president. But he didn't say outright that Biden won. And so after several go-rounds with senators along these lines, the tone escalated as Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff kept pressing Clayton. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) JON OSSOFF: Who won the 2020 election? JAY CLAYTON: Like I said, I'm not going to get into that with you. OSSOFF: But you do have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee. CLAYTON: Is anything that I just said not honest or forthright? OSSOFF: Yes. You're not being honest or forthright. Who won the 2020 election? CLAYTON: I think I've answered the question. FADEL: So I know the president is expected to again talk about this election in his speech tonight, an election he lost but refuses to acknowledge he lost. But it's 2026, so why the focus on this in the panel? Could the director of national intelligence end up being part of any investigation into the 2020 election? MYRE: Yeah, the short answer is yes. Now, Clayton was asked about Trump's speech that he's going to deliver tonight. And Clayton said he didn't know anything about it because he hasn't been confirmed yet. But the director oversees the collective effort of the intelligence community, all 18 agencies, those with a domestic focus like the FBI, those with a foreign focus like the CIA. So, yes, this office could be involved. And, Leila, an important reminder, the 2020 election has been investigated repeatedly. No evidence has emerged of any serious irregularities in the casting or counting of votes. And this includes a 2021 report by this very office, the office of the director of national intelligence. It said Russia and Iran tried to influence American voters but did not penetrate the actual voting process, and that China also considered an influence operation but ultimately decided against it. FADEL: What should we know about Jay Clayton's background? MYRE: Yeah, he's a lawyer. He's held a couple of high-powered government jobs. He's currently the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and this handles high-profile legal cases in the Justice Department. And he previously led the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now, Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the intelligence committee, said he's worked with Clayton in earlier jobs and found him highly professional. But Warner stressed that the law stipulates this job must be filled by someone with extensive experience in the intelligence world. FADEL: So is Clayton qualified for this job? MYRE: Well, he's never held a job in the intelligence community. Now, he says he's worked extensively with intelligence agencies. For example, his current office is in charge of prosecuting the former leader of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, so Clayton works with the FBI and others. Now, a couple quick notes. Republicans control the intelligence committee and can send Clayton's nomination to the full Senate without any Democratic support. And a committee vote is expected next week. And a reminder, this position opened up after the recent resignation of Tulsi Gabbard, who often seemed to be just out of step with President Trump. FADEL: NPR's Greg Myre. Thank you, Greg. MYRE: Sure thing, Leila. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. 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