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Donald Trump has nominated former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Jay Clayton to be the head of the US intelligence community.
Clayton would take over from Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a Trump ally, who had been appointed acting director of national intelligence earlier this month following the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard.
Trump has faced a widening revolt in Congress to his appointment of Pulte, who has no known experience in intelligence. Gabbard, a former Democratic Party member, was viewed as a controversial pick to lead the nation’s spy agencies, and had also been a longtime critic of US interventions in overseas conflicts.
Clayton must be confirmed by the Senate before he is appointed to the role on a permanent basis.
Clayton is the current US attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the most influential federal trial courts in the country, and was a partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. Trump said in a social media post announcing the nomination that “Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay”.
This is a developing story
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