Wyden on Delay of Clayton Nomination Hearing: Depending on Trump Henchmen to Defend Americans’ Rights is Pointless; the Senate Must Reform Government Surveillance

Wyden on Delay of Clayton Nomination Hearing: Depending on Trump Henchmen to Defend Americans' Rights is Pointless; the Senate Must Reform Government Surveillance

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released the following statement in response to Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton cancelling a confirmation hearing for Director of National Intelligence Nominee Jay Clayton, pursuant to a rambling Truth Social post by Donald Trump.

Over recent weeks, Trump has demanded that Congress pass the SAVE Act voter suppression legislation before he will sign an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He has also appointed unqualified henchman Bill Pulte to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence, and promised that Pulte will gut the ODNI before the next nominee takes office.

"Trump made it clear that he expects whomever is Director of National Intelligence to promote his baseless election conspiracy theories. And if they don't, he'll just fire them and appoint the next yes-man in line," Wyden said. "Unfortunately, Chairman Cotton has refused to discuss a single reform to FISA Section 702. I even asked for unanimous consent to extend Section 702 for five weeks, with a few measures to increase transparency, and Chairman Cotton blocked my proposal and allowed Section 702 to expire. It is clearer than ever that real reform is the only path to 60 votes on Section 702."

###