New York Times Subpoenas Could Complicate Jay Clayton's Confirmation [View all]

Source: Huff Post

Jul 14, 2026, 07:00 AM EDT


WASHINGTON — A lot of senators were relieved when President Donald Trump nominated Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, since his prosecutor background made him more qualified for the job than Bill Pulte, the Trump loyalist temporarily holding the position who has made clear he’s willing to serve as the president’s attack dog.

However, the Justice Department’s recent subpoenas against New York Times reporters — authorized by Clayton, but apparently produced at the demand of the White House and an embarrassed Trump — suggest Clayton harbors a similar willingness to act on presidential demands for revenge.

Progressive groups led by Demand Progress, which opposed Clayton to begin with, highlighted the subpoenas in a pressure campaign against Democratic senators who might be inclined to vote for the nominee.

“A federal prosecutor who will weaponize the grand jury process against reporters — and their sources — to punish disclosures unwelcome to the president has shown the Senate the precise instinct that is disqualifying in a Director of National Intelligence,” the groups, which include Indivisible and Reporters Without Borders, wrote in Monday letters to Senate Democratic leaders and members of the Senate intelligence committee.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jay-clayton-confirmation-senate-subpoenas_n_6a556ebae4b09843d52d1c94