All posts tagged "bill pulte"

Expert shares sobering warning as Trump allows key spy tool to expire: 'Wake up'

A national security expert flagged the impact of one of President Donald Trump's moves that effectively allowed a key U.S. spy tool to expire.

During an appearance on CNN, Leon Panetta, the former CIA director under former President Barack Obama and White House chief of staff during the Clinton administration, expressed concern about the expiration of a key part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

House lawmakers refused to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA earlier this month in response to Trump's pick for acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte. When Trump refused to drop Pulte, FISA lapsed, and Panetta explained what losing FISA means for national security.

"You want to create a vulnerability in terms of our national security? Prevent FISA from taking effect," Panetta said. "Because what that does is it allows terrorists to be able to communicate in this country."

FISA provides the U.S. with the "ability to basically capture that kind of communication so that we know what terrorists are up to and what threats our country is facing," Panetta added.

"With FISA shut down right now, without question, this country is very vulnerable to some kind of terrorist attack," Panetta said. "People have got to wake up. The president's got to wake up."

Panetta said that he understands "the political games that go on sometimes," but "at this moment, our national security is what is most important to the president, to the country and to Congress."

Republicans flummoxed by Trump 'throwing a grenade' into latest nomination fight

President Donald Trump's order to halt the nomination process for director of national intelligence sent Republican lawmakers scrambling on Wednesday, according to CNN.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) announced just an hour before Jay Clayton, Trump's pick for the job, was set to testify before the Senate confirmation hearing that it was being postponed after the president told Clayton not to show up, CNN anchor Brianna Keilar reported.

"The president is accusing lawmakers of moving too fast to confirm Clayton, and he's vowing to hold up a critical spying measure, FISA reauthorization, unless a separate voter ID measure, separate and unrelated, by the way, is attached to it," Keilar explained.

CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox described the whiplash among the GOP leaders.

"A lot of frustration from some Senate Republicans up here on Capitol Hill, in part because they really believe that they were on a fast track to approving Jay Clayton to be the next DNI at a moment where many Republicans, as well as Democrats, were worried about Bill Pulte, who Trump had selected to be his acting DNI, stepping into that role," Fox said.

"So right now, Republicans are a little bit flummoxed because they believe that they had been working in good faith with Democrats," Fox said.

"They had been getting signals that Democrats were willing to try to move this nomination as expeditiously as possible," Fox said. "And then you just had Donald Trump, as one member put it, throwing a grenade into this entire process by saying on Truth Social in the wee hours of the morning, while many senators were sleeping, that he did not believe that Jay Clayton's nomination should go forward today before the Senate Intelligence Committee a couple hours later, you had Senator Tom Cotton, who is the top Republican on that committee, making clear that he wanted to continue having this hearing unless he got word that Donald Trump didn't want Clayton coming before the committee later today. Well, clearly he got that word because a couple hours later, Cotton made clear that he was disappointed, but that they were going to be postponing this confirmation hearing."

Trump was pushing the demands forward for a key reason, Fox explained.

"Those two things are unrelated, and I would just point out that there isn't support, even among Republicans in the Senate, for that voter ID law on its own," Fox added. "It would need 60 votes in the Senate. It doesn't even have enough Republican support to get a majority of the vote. So a lot of Republicans are just shaking their head right now, feeling like they were on a fast track to getting Jay Clayton to serve as DNI, someone who's popular, someone who a lot of Republicans have worked with in the past. Now they are basically starting back at zero."

Susie Wiles 'on her last leg' amid White House turmoil: political experts

Susie Wiles is running out of patience with Trump amid mounting White House turmoil, a couple of political experts said.

Dean Blundell, a Canadian political commentator, detailed what insiders had told him about the Trump White House Chief of Staff during an interview with ex-GOP operative Steve Schmidt. Wiles was rumored to be looking for the exit, but she and other White House officials shot down the claim, which came from a Daily Mail report based on insider insight.

"Susie Wiles is on her last leg," Blundell said, sharing what sources told him. "She just doesn't want to be associated with this stuff anymore."

The Daily Mail reported that Wiles was mostly upset about the appointment of Bill Pulte as the acting Director of National Intelligence. Blundell said that it's telling for her to be "this disgusted by his pick for DNI," and suggested that her frustrations went beyond that.

"You don't have to look too far for the damage that this family is doing, not just in the United States, but also in Albania," Blundell said, referring to the protests over Ivanka Trump's planned resort.

Schmidt gave his two cents, saying, "If you held a gun to my head and make me guess what happened here, I would say that Susie Wiles probably threatened to quit."

Dead Air: Happy birthday, loser with Steve Schmidt & Dean Blundell by Steve Schmidt

Read on Substack

Knives come out as furious GOP insiders go scorched earth on a 'White House gone rogue'

A furious GOP Senate aide fired off at Trump for ignoring the issues that matter ahead of the midterms, the conservative Daily Mail reported Friday.

"People are p— the f— off that prices are too high and things are too expensive," a senior GOP aide told the Mail. "I'm just not sure the president really cares or if he's really in tune with what's going on on Capitol Hill."

The aide's concerns came as the November midterms approach, which could cost the GOP Senate its majority. The Daily Mail noted recent controversial moves by Trump, like the appointment of Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence, his UFC cage match on the White House lawn, and the creation of his anti-weaponization fund.

"Between the Pulte nominations and anti-weaponization fund, the White House has definitely gone rogue and instead pushed priorities without talking to Congressional leadership," another senior GOP aide told The Daily Mail, bringing up that Trump hasn't even seemed to consult Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

"We're begging the White House to focus on issues to help Republicans in the midterms," the second aide continued. "But it feels like it's falling on deaf ears."

A third senior GOP congressional aide agreed, saying, "The president's fiery public demands of Congress often seem disconnected from his staff's more deferential posture when dealing with GOP leadership and moderates," The Mail reported.

The congressional aide also complained about "wild swings in who gets thrown under the bus week by week," according to the Mail.

A senior GOP House aide put some of the blame on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for hurting House Republicans by defending Trump.

"Speaker Johnson has relied so heavily on Trump to lead the conference and clean up his messes that it's no wonder Trump has taken more of an active role in dictating what he wants to see from Congress," the House aide told The Mail. "Is it good for the institution? Not really, but Speaker Johnson is the one to blame for weakening the speakership."

A fourth Senate GOP aide concluded, "If our coalition falls apart, we will not be able to advance the president's priorities."

Trump snubs Bill Pulte for permanent DNI — and selects new pick with his own baggage

President Donald Trump announced his nominee to be the next director of national intelligence on Thursday, snubbing Bill Pulte, who had been placed in the position as the acting director.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he was nominating "highly respected Jay Clayton, former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the former Head of Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the most prominent and successful Law Firms anywhere in the World, and the current United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to be the next Director of National Intelligence and, importantly, to serve in my Cabinet."

"Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay. I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible," Trump wrote.

Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reportedly received a call from Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director, essentially telling her Trump was firing her. The move came as a shock to Gabbard.

Trump's decision to place Pulte in the temporary role has led to criticism, even among conservatives, as Pulte has no experience in national security and a track record of abusing his office to go after the president's political enemies.

Clayton has defended Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund and has raised unfounded fraud concerns around the California elections. He has also said that Trump was wronged in criminal prosecutions against him.

Bill Pulte's family entangled with shadowy Christian group backing Trump allies: report

For more than two generations, Bill Pulte's family has had close ties with a covert Christian group that has backed allies of President Donald Trump and other conservatives, according to a report on Tuesday.

The acting national intelligence director's grandfather and father have been closely involved with a group known as The Family, or The Fellowship, which organizes the National Prayer Breakfast and a C Street congressional residence on Capitol Hill. These are "leaders and financial backers of a secretive Christian organization that conducts shadow diplomacy around the world, according to public records and documents I obtained," wrote Jonathan Larsen in a Substack post, which was republished by Salon.

"Pulte’s grandfather, at one point one of the wealthiest men in the world, built a Fortune 500 company and gave tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars to charity before his 2018 death," Larsen wrote. "He was also friends with Doug Coe, died in 2017 after decades leading the secretive, controversial Fellowship Foundation that built and sustained a global right-wing network including dictators, lobbyists, and corrupt millionaires largely united against labor, LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights."

Pulte's exact connection to The Fellowship remains unclear. It's said he was close to his grandfather, his namesake, who was a longtime friend of Coe's, Larsen wrote. Pulte's father has continued to fund religious charities connected to The Fellowship.

"If Pulte is personally connected to The Fellowship, he’d hardly be alone in the administration’s upper ranks," Larsen wrote.

"Secretary of State Marco Rubio used to live at the C Street townhouse, as did Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the United Kingdom, former 'Apprentice' producer Mark Burnett, is a regular at The Fellowship’s National Prayer Breakfast," Larsen explained.

"But the ties extend beyond overlapping at religious charities in the orbits of Michigan philanthropists. Pulte had a significant personal relationship with Coe, who hobnobbed with presidents of both parties and leaders of nations around the world," Larsen wrote.

And that's not the only connection the Pulte family has to top political families — or the Trump family.

Pulte's father also played a role in Trump's bidding war against Epstein for a Palm Beach property, which was noted by Substacker Greg Conners.

"The notorious bidding war for a Palm Beach estate between Trump and Jeffrey Epstein involved a third party. It was Mark Pulte, who veered off from the Pulte home-building business to focus on luxury properties. As Conners notes, Pulte, father of Trump’s appointee, outbid Epstein and was the one who actually bid up the price Trump ended up paying," Larsen added.

Susie Wiles expected to quit as Trump's chief of staff after stinging 'insult': report

Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will soon quit her high-level White House post, insiders told the Daily Mail.

Wiles is preparing to quit because she was "vehemently" opposed to the promotion of Bill Pulte from the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to the role of acting Director of National Intelligence, three White House insiders told the Daily Mail.

She perceived it as an "insult" when Trump followed through on the Pulte promotion, and Trump had already been starting to "resent" her opposition, the Mail reported.

"She is loyal to Trump, but he is now basically saying, 'Look, Ma, you are not the boss of me,'" an insider told the Mail.

She's plotting an exit strategy as she's also dealing with health problems, according to the Mail.

"She is getting cancer treatment and is completely drained," a White House insider told the Mail. "Now Trump is taking more and more control of the White House."

According to the Mail, Wiles is expected to use the midterms as an off-ramp and could leave the White House soon after the November elections.

Wiles has been working with Trump since his first campaign in 2016 and has held the chief of staff role since his reelection, the Mail noted.

Trump arrives late and unhappy to Wisconsin event — and CNN reporter reveals why

A CNN reporter pointed out that President Donald Trump seemed displeased ahead of his event Friday night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN's chief national affairs correspondent, was traveling with the president and other reporters and commented that Trump was not too thrilled as he headed to the Midwest battleground state to discuss his economic agenda among struggling farmers and the agriculture community.

Trump was slated to speak at a roundtable at 4 p.m. ET, but was late to take the stage, Zeleny explained.

"There is no doubt the president is a bit delayed here," Zeleny said. "He's been doing an interview, we're told, with NBC News on "Meet the Press." He came out and delivered some familiar criticism of the press. We will see what else he says during this. He does not seem to be in a very good mood, but at this point, we should point out so much criticism is coming from Republicans about the qualifications of Bill Pulte."

Both Republicans and Democrats had expressed concern over Trump's naming of Pulte as the new acting head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Pulte, who does not have any known national security experience, was reportedly planning to execute sweeping personnel cuts across the nation's 18 federal intelligence agencies and units before a permanent successor is confirmed.

'A lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there': Trump orders fresh purge of officials

President Donald Trump has instructed Bill Pulte, the controversial new acting head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), to execute sweeping personnel cuts across the nation's 18 federal intelligence agencies and units before a permanent successor is confirmed.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump revealed his explicit mandate to Pulte, who lacks the necessary security clearances, to dramatically reduce the size of an agency he views as "unnecessary and/or too big."

"I'd like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn't be there," Trump admitted to The Journal, specifically targeting career officials from the Biden and Obama administrations. When asked directly if he was ordering firings, Trump confirmed the instruction. "I want him to 'start the process,'" Trump said, adding that his eventual permanent nominee should continue the purge once confirmed.

Trump bluntly framed Pulte's temporary status as an operational advantage rather than a limitation. "You're less shackled," Trump said of the acting designation. "It sort of gives you more power, you know, for a somewhat limited period of time."

The president outlined a calculated strategy to complete major structural changes before his permanent appointee takes office, allowing the future ODNI to inherit a smaller, ideologically aligned agency rather than managing the cuts themselves.

"Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come," Trump explained. "Because, if he [Pulte] reduced the size, in conjunction with me…and in conjunction with possibly the person coming in…he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn't have to saddle somebody that goes in."

The approach reflects Trump's broader effort to reshape the intelligence community according to his preferences, The Journal reported. Pulte, who has no prior intelligence experience and has been highly critical of the FBI and other agencies, is widely viewed as unlikely to survive Senate confirmation despite his acting appointment.

Pulte and ODNI representatives declined to comment to The Journal on the directives.

More bizarre antics resurface about Trump's controversial pick for spy chief: report

Trump's pick to temporarily take over as the country's top spy chief had a bizarre past, according to reports that dug up his old antics.

Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte used to host an event where people were slapped with sex toys, according to reporting by The Daily Beast. He was also accused of influencing Trump's posting of a Christ-like image of himself earlier this year, The Beast added.

Pulte, who's also the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, appeared at an event with internet influencer PP from "ThePPShow" and was awarded a novelty trophy saying "Bill Pulte F—" on one side and "Only the Young" on the other side, according to The Daily Beast, which noted it was in part a reference to a Taylor Swift song.

In a resurfaced video of the event, Pulte blurted out “I like only the young,” before exclaiming that the trophy “looks pretty bad—” as it was handed to him. He then dropped it after getting “too excited,” he said in the video.

He was pressured off the board of Pulte Homes, his grandfather's company, because of his self-promotion, the New York Times reported.

Pulte, who used to hold shares of Bed Bath & Beyond, wore bulletproof vests, saying he was afraid that anti-Bed Bath & Beyond forces might try to kill him, the Beast reported. He tried to claim the company wasn't really bankrupt and could still be saved in 2023, but the company went bankrupt anyway that year, The Bulwark reported.

The FHFA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence didn't respond to The Daily Beast's request for comments.