Wyden Urges Senators to Reject Jay Clayton's Nomination for Director of National Intelligence

July 28, 2026 Wyden Urges Senators to Reject Jay Clayton's Nomination for Director of National Intelligence Watch a video of Senator Wyden's remarks here. As Prepared for Delivery M. President, I speak today in opposition to the nomination of Jay Clayton to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Mr. Clayton has repeated baseless conspiracy theories about American elections, refused to acknowledge who won the 2020 election, participated in an abusive investigation of American journalists, and provided false testimony to Congress about that investigation. It has been clear for months that, under this administration, the main qualification to be DNI is the willingness to use the position to spread conspiracy theories about elections and to help Donald Trump make it harder for Americans to vote. Even before his nomination, Mr. Clayton decided he’d show how eager he is to serve as Trump’s election conspiracy wingman. Mr. Clayton is the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. Yet there he was on television, talking about elections in California and insisting, without any evidence, that America was doing a “terrible job” with election integrity. I was particularly alarmed by his conspiracy mongering about vote-by-mail, which is how Oregon has been voting successfully for decades. On June 8th, just a few days before he was nominated, Mr. Clayton was on television talking about how “one group” was using vote-by-mail “dishonestly.” This is ridiculous. The first two Senators elected by mail were a Democrat and a Republican. Vote by mail benefits rural voters who live far from polling stations. Vote by mail benefits older voters who may not be able to drive. It has never been partisan – not until Donald Trump, aided by people like Jay Clayton, made it part of his attack on American democracy. Mr. Clayton didn’t offer a shred of evidence to support his conspiracy theories, so I asked him – who were these mythical election bandits? In his responses to written questions, he said he was only asking the question. M. President, that is the stock in trade for conspiracy theorists. The moment they are asked to provide some evidence – any evidence – for their claims, they fall back on the “I was just asking a question” excuse. It’s fundamentally dishonest. It’s also behavior that should not be tolerated in someone responsible for providing Congress and the public assessments based on actual intelligence. As we all saw during his disastrous nomination hearing, Mr. Clayton also refused to acknowledge the simple fact that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Everyone knows the truth here. The only reason to avoid the question is to satisfy Donald Trump’s delicate ego. But that’s what Mr. Clayton did, signaling to Donald Trump, and to the whole country, that he will never, ever stand up to Trump. I am also deeply concerned about Mr. Clayton’s role in the abusive subpoenas issued to New York Times journalists. Mr. Clayton is the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District. He signed the subpoenas. He is responsible for this effort to intimidate the press. He is also responsible for the numerous mistakes and errors committed by the attorneys under him, which even included issuing a subpoena to a journalist’s mother. This whole mess came out in a court hearing last week where, not only did the judge criticize the government’s attorneys, the government itself acknowledged its numerous errors and mistakes before eventually withdrawing the subpoenas. All that’s bad enough. But it also raises serious questions about Mr. Clayton’s testimony to the Intelligence Committee. Eight days before that court hearing in which the government acknowledged its mistakes, Mr. Clayton testified – repeatedly – that the government had followed all the required procedures. That was obviously false. The only question is whether Mr. Clayton knew at the time that his testimony was false. If he didn’t know, then he had no idea what his own office was doing, despite having signed the subpoenas, which isn’t a great qualification for someone to lead our intelligence agencies. If he did know, then he may have willfully misled Congress. This is a vitally important question that the Senate should look into, rather than rushing to confirm Mr. Clayton. There are other examples of how Mr. Clayton is willing to say anything in defense of Donald Trump’s corruption and abuses. In May, Mr. Clayton went on television and defended the decision to immunize Donald Trump and his family from a tax audit. He said it was a “pretty good deal for the government.” Well, it was certainly a good deal for Trump and his family. But it wasn’t so great for everyday Americans who don’t control the IRS. And it wasn’t a good deal for the government either. In fact, a judge recently found that the so-called “settlement” was “improper,” had “no viable basis in law or fact,” and was an abdication of the government’s “responsibility to zealously defend the interests of the United States.” Yet, Mr. Clayton was happy to go on television and defend this blatant corruption. Finally, as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Clayton has been the lead of the administration’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. He was responsible for the inexcusable release of information on Epstein’s victims. As for his other actions related to the investigation and the Epstein files, he has refused to say. But someday there will be transparency about how this administration handled the Epstein case and Mr. Clayton’s full role will come out. Jay Clayton has no business being confirmed for this role. He has repeatedly demonstrated his eagerness to support Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories and corruption. He participated in the abuse of the justice system to try to intimidate the press. And he has provided false testimony to Congress during his own confirmation hearing. I urge Senators to oppose this nomination. ### Print Email Tweet Previous Article