WASHINGTON, July 1 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his acting spy chief has wide permission to declassify records, including any tied to the 2020 election, even though his close ally is only at the intelligence helm for a short time.
Trump appointed Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence last month, elevating a political loyalist with no national security experience at a time of war and global tensions.
Following a political backlash over his pick, Trump subsequently nominated Jay Clayton, the top U.S. attorney for Manhattan. But he then abruptly postponed Clayton’s confirmation hearing in an effort to force Congress to pass a strict voter identification bill.
“Bill’s there, just, you know, for maybe a month or two months or something,” Trump told reporters as he departed Joint Base Andrews for an event in North Dakota. “But while he’s there, I said, ‘You can declassify whatever you want’.”
Asked if that included any records related to the 2020 election, Trump added: “I told him you could do it, it’s fair. You got to ask him.”
Trump, who won a second White House term in the 2024 election after losing in 2020, long has falsely claimed widespread fraud in U.S. elections and continued to push debunked claims ahead of November’s midterm contests as part of his pressure campaign to pass a strict voter identification law.
His comments come as NBC News reported that a White House task force was gathering documents related to the 2020 election with the aim of declassifying some of them.
“As the most transparent president in history, President Trump is totally committed to sharing as much information with the public as possible,” said a White House official who requested anonymity.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the office of Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton did not respond to requests for comment on Trump’s remarks.
The ODNI oversees the 18-agency U.S. intelligence community that includes the premier foreign spy service, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency, the massive agency that eavesdrops on foreign communications and helps defend the United States against cyberattacks.
It was not clear when lawmakers would act on Clayton’s nomination, but Trump told reporters there would be a hearing in two weeks.
A source familiar with the situation, on condition of anonymity, said Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, was “targeting” July 15.
Pulte currently leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency but will also remain as ODNI until Clayton is confirmed by the Senate. Pulte has reportedly already moved to cut hundreds of intelligence jobs.
Trump has said legislation known as the SAVE Act would deliver his fellow Republicans a “guaranteed” win in November as they seek to maintain their slim control of Congress. Democrats are hoping to capitalize on Trump’s low approval ratings to recapture at least the House of Representatives or the Senate.
Democrats and voting-rights advocates say the measure could hinder voter registration for millions of eligible Americans.
On Tuesday, Trump in a social media post said he had met with Tina Peters, a former county elections clerk in Colorado who was convicted of illegally tampering with voting machines in pursuit of Trump’s false claims over the 2020 race.
Representatives of Peters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Jonathan Landay; editing by Michelle Nichols and Bill Berkrot)
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