Trump intelligence pick Jay Clayton refuses to say Biden won 2020 election

Key Points:

• Jay Clayton, nominated to be the next US intelligence chief, avoided explicitly stating Joe Biden won the 2020 election during his confirmation hearing, instead saying Biden was "certified" as president.
• Clayton declined to address questions about his past election integrity claims and whether a White House official asked him to subpoena New York Times journalists in a national security probe.
• If confirmed, Clayton would replace Bill Pulte, Trump's appointee as acting director of national intelligence, whose tenure has been controversial due to lack of intelligence experience and perceived political bias.
• Republicans initially tried to block Pulte by scheduling Clayton's hearing, but Trump ordered Clayton not to attend, allowing Pulte to assume the acting director role and fire some intelligence officials.
• Clayton's background is primarily in law and finance, with no intelligence experience, but he has shown strong support for Trump and echoed unsubstantiated election fraud claims, criticizing California’s mail-voting system.