Donald Trump just handed his temporary intelligence boss a blank check to declassify whatever he wants. Even the 2020 election files. It doesn’t matter that the guy in charge is a short-timer with zero national security experience.
Last month, Trump tapped political loyalist Bill Pulte to run the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The move triggered immediate backlash. In response, Trump nominated Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, Jay Clayton, to take the job permanently. But then Trump froze Clayton’s confirmation process. Why? To squeeze Congress into passing a strict voter ID law.
“Bill’s there, just, you know, for maybe a month or two months or something,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before flying to North Dakota. “But while he’s there, I said, ‘You can declassify whatever you want’.”
When asked if that directive covered the 2020 election, Trump didn’t blink. “I told him you could do it, it’s fair. You got to ask him.”
Trump won back the White House in 2024, but he still clings to debunked claims of widespread fraud from his 2020 loss. He is using these same talking points to push the SAVE Act ahead of the midterms. Meanwhile, NBC News reports a White House task force is already sorting through 2020 election documents for potential release.
An anonymous White House official defended the move, calling Trump “the most transparent president in history” and claiming he wants to share everything with the public. Neither the ODNI nor Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton responded to requests for comment.
The ODNI coordinates 18 intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the NSA. It is a massive apparatus. Yet, its current leader is a housing finance official who is already reportedly slashing hundreds of intelligence jobs. Pulte will hold the keys to the kingdom until Clayton is confirmed. A source says Cotton is aiming for a July 15 hearing.
Trump insists the SAVE Act will guarantee a Republican victory in November. Democrats argue the bill is a voter suppression tactic that will block millions of eligible Americans from registering. They hope to ride Trump’s low approval ratings to congressional majorities.
Trump also revealed he recently met with Tina Peters. The former Colorado county clerk was convicted of tampering with voting machines while trying to prove Trump’s 2020 conspiracy theories. Her team did not respond to requests for comment.
