Trump's DNI pick Clayton won't tell senators Biden won the 2020 election

Trump's DNI pick Clayton won't tell senators Biden won the 2020 election.

Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, refused to say Joe Biden won the 2020 election, claimed not to know his predecessor Tulsi Gabbard took part in a raid of a Georgia election office earlier this year and defended subpoenaing New York Times journalists in a contentious Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

On multiple occasions during the roughly two-hour hearing, Clayton declined to answer who won the 2020 election, instead saying: "I am not an election denier. Joe Biden was certified." Ossoff, at one point, called Clayton's responses "disqualifying." "Your answers lack credibility. Your testimony lacks credibility," Ossoff said.

The process of Clayton's nomination as DNI, a role that would grant him access to the country's most sensitive secrets and authority over 18 intelligence agencies, has been marred by controversy.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, questioned Clayton about a statement he made on CNBC about California elections, in which he seemed to entertain the possibility of voter fraud. "We had a problem, a deep problem with voting in America," Clayton said during a June appearance on "Squawk Box." "On the integrity side, we're doing an absolutely terrible job, and the American people are right to question it." Asked by King whether voter fraud was a problem in American elections, Clayton said: "I don't think we can say definitively whether there is, or is not, until we have better processes."

The morning of Clayton's original hearing, Trump took to Truth Social and directed him not to appear, saying he was pausing the nomination. Trump said he balked in part because he wanted Congress to attach a controversial election bill -- that would impose photo identification rules and proof of citizenship to register -- to the renewal of an unrelated foreign surveillance law. That foreign surveillance law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, fell apart. The program lapsed in June, as Democrats protested Pulte's appointment to the position.

Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., both pressed Clayton on subpoenas served to New York Times reporters last week on the heels of reporting on security concerns related to a new Air Force One that was gifted to Trump by Qatar. Clayton issued the subpoenas, which The New York Times said were delivered Friday, in some cases to the homes of the reporters in question. Those reporters were ordered to appear before a grand jury on Wednesday to testify "in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law." Clayton said he was not able to get into the specifics of the investigation. "Let me say that I am confident that the procedures that we have in place to protect the First Amendment and protect the freedom of the press, and not result in intimidation of journalists," Clayton said.