Graham asks Trump to move forward with Clayton’s DNI nomination

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday said he asked President Trump to proceed with U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton as his pick to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) after he said he would delay his nomination.

Graham told CBS News’s “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan that the nomination process should have carried on as planned and that Clayton “should be the new DNI.” Trump halted the process after Democrats said they would not reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a key spy authority that expired earlier this month, in protest against Bill Pulte holding the ODNI lead role in an acting capacity.

“Mark Warner told me that there are enough votes to get FISA reauthorized, and I would urge President Trump to let Clayton testify,” Graham said, referring to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “And if we nominate Clayton and get him affirmed as the new DNI, we don’t want FISA to go dark. There’s too many threats to our country........

© The Hill