Trump’s new acting intel chief Bill Pulte arrives early, eyes firing hundreds at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Submission Statement: A completely unqualified Trump loyalist has started making moves to fire hundreds of non-partisan employees at the at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence which can have long-term ramifications for our country’s ability to analyze national security issues.

Some choice quotes from the article:

>President Donald Trump’s pick for acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, showed up at his new job a day early on Thursday after asking for a list of every employee in the office so he could assess whether to fire them, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The sources said Pulte is eyeing to cut hundreds of jobs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

>In his only other briefing with ODNI last week, Pulte asked staff if he could bring the President’s Daily Brief to his house, raising alarm bells among intelligence officials, according to one of the sources. That briefing is a highly classified set of intelligence on key national security matters of the day.

>CNN previously reported that before Pulte was announced to lead the US intelligence community, he did not have a security clearance granting him access to highly-classified information — meaning he lacked what has long been considered a basic prerequisite for the job.

>Another source familiar told CNN that Pulte has repeatedly inquired about his schedule and whether he gets his own government plane, appearing almost overly fixated on his ability to travel between DC, Florida and Chicago — between which he splits his time.

>Pulte had also asked for a protective security detail even before starting the job, according to the first source.

>The episodes, which have not previously been reported, indicate that Pulte feels empowered to begin his tenure as spy chief in an aggressive fashion. Trump has already given him a mandate to further shrink the intelligence community and pursue the president’s false claims of election fraud.

>Pulte’s standing in Trump’s eyes grew over the last year when, as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, he sent the Justice Department criminal referrals on allegations of mortgage fraud against multiple Democrats who have pushed investigations into Trump. Now, critics fear, the 38-year-old former businessman will have an even bigger platform to pursue Trump’s vendettas.

>“This isn’t something to overthink — President Trump wanted someone in that position who is a true loyalist, who will do what he wants him to do. He has that in Bill,” one source close to Pulte previously told CNN.

>Now, Pulte takes the job overseeing 18 intelligence agencies as the US and Iran enter an agreement to end a four-month war in which Gabbard played an unusually marginal role for a spy chief. He also enters a job that Gabbard has used to hunt for evidence of voter fraud around the 2020 election that Trump lost. That pursuit risked crossing a crucial line between foreign and domestic intelligence activities instituted after Watergate, former intelligence officials and election law experts have told CNN.

>Trump has said Pulte will remain director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency while serving as acting director of national intelligence (DNI). The move left many intelligence professionals scratching their heads because the spy chief is not considered a part-time job.

>Pulte could have more time than anticipated as acting DNI after disarray this week in the nomination process for Trump’s permanent pick for the role, Jay Clayton. Trump directed Clayton to skip his own confirmation on Wednesday over a bitter dispute on Capitol Hill over a lapsed surveillance law, among other issues.

>“DNI Gabbard, whose role regarding elections is limited to foreign interference, spent 18 months and untold taxpayer dollars and resources trying to give substance to lies about the 2020 election … and found absolutely nothing,” said David Becker, an election law expert who is executive director of the nonprofit and nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research.

>Becker, who works with election officials from both parties, said he worries that “Pulte has been hand-picked to replace her precisely because he too embraces the lies and conspiracy theories while ignoring the evidence.”

Omg, he asked the bring home the PDB? He doesn’t have Top Security Clearance and ready to fire people before he knows what the job entails. Asking for a PJ and security before starting the job too?

It’s the worst type of boss you can imagine. The DNI was created cause the different departments did communicate. He’s gonna shrink all the intelligence agencies and leave us vulnerable.

It’s like watching the USA open the door for something terrible in slow motion. It’s gonna cost people’s lives, security, and safety.

With all the enemies Trump has made in his Presidency and openly taking a chainsaw to the intelligence community with someone who is unqualified for the job, he’s basically unlocking the front door.