Ossoff: Trump ‘making a terrorist attack more likely’ with Pulte nomination

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) on Wednesday slammed President Trump for appointing Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, arguing the move increases the risk of a terrorist attack on the U.S.

“The installation of a thug and a hack like Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence is maybe the most chilling and the most dangerous nomination or appointment that this president has made,” Ossoff told host Jen Psaki on MS NOW’s “The Briefing.”

Trump tapped Pulte to serve as acting intelligence director earlier this month. Pulte is set to begin in his role Friday, with Tulsi Gabbard stepping down.

As the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Pulte — a past donor to the president — has pushed for probes into mortgage fraud allegations involving multiple of Trump’s perceived enemies, including New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff (Calif.).

Last week, Trump nominated Jay Clayton to serve as the full-time intelligence director. But on Wednesday, the president directed Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, not to appear at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing set for that afternoon.

The president wrote on Truth Social that Clayton’s nomination process will resume once Congress passes legislation combining a voter ID bill and an extension of the federal government’s warrantless spy powers over foreign nationals. He also urged the Senate to confirm James McDonald, his nominee to succeed Clayton as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the chair of the Intelligence Committee, said Trump’s decision to delay Clayton’s nomination was “regrettable.”

“Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly,” Cotton wrote Wednesday on the social platform X. “While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.”

Ossoff, a member of the Intelligence Committee, also slammed Pulte as a “partisan loyalist” on Wednesday and noted the FHFA director has no background in intelligence or national security.

“He is putting the national security of the country at risk,” the Georgia Democrat told Psaki, referring to Trump. “His handling of this is putting the United States at risk, and making a terrorist attack more likely because he is destabilizing America’s intelligence capabilities.”

“But he’s also putting someone in who is a political hack, who will abuse his authorities in the intelligence community,” Ossoff added, referring to Pulte.