President Trump says he wants the nation's top spy chief to open the files wide. The president said Wednesday that he told acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to "declassify almost everything," CNN reports. Pulte "is there just for a fairly short period of time. But while he's there, I said you can declassify whatever you want," Trump said. "I think that Bill will declassify." Sources told NBC News on Tuesday that a White House task force is preparing to release intelligence documents to bolster Trump's disputed claims about past elections.
Trump has long viewed the intelligence post as crucial to both reviewing prior elections and shaping security around future ones. He tapped Pulte last month with an eye toward prying loose material tied to the 2020 race and his unfounded allegations of widespread fraud, while permanent nominee Jay Clayton awaits Senate confirmation, CNN reports. Last month, Trump delayed the confirmation process for his own nominee. Senators from both parties have criticized Pulte over his lack of national security experience, the Hill reports.
Senators have also expressed concerns over how Pulte used his role as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to target Trump's enemies, claiming they committed mortgage fraud. Trump said Pulte would be acting DNI for a month or two, Politico reports. Last week, Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said lawmakers would work to ensure that Pulte's office reports "on legitimate foreign threats to elections, not Donald Trump's imaginary ones," the New York Times reports. "Trump was explicit when he appointed Bill Pulte to a job he had no qualifications for that he had elections in mind," Himes said.
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