Trump's new spy chief could use DNI powers to manipulate midterms: ex-prosecutor

Donald Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence hands a man with no intelligence experience — and a documented willingness to weaponize government power against Trump's enemies — control over the nation's entire spy apparatus just months before the midterm elections, a former federal prosecutor warned Tuesday.Joyce Vance, who served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, laid out the threat in stark terms. The DNI's portfolio includes advising the president on potential foreign interference in elections — a responsibility that, in Pulte's hands, Vance wrote, could become something far more sinister.It's also possible that Pulte, whose role will include advising the president on potential foreign interference in the elections, could aid with an agenda designed to ensure favorable outcomes — seizing ballots or election equipment, or even offering a rationale for canceling elections with claims of foreign interference, Vance wrote.She called the scenario speculative but not inconsistent with some of the schemes that were floated in the wake of the 2020 election.Pulte's appointment also gives him access to surveillance powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorizes warrantless monitoring of foreign targets outside the U.S. — sweeps that can pull in the communications of Americans who contact those targets. FISA is currently up for congressional renewal.Pulte currently heads the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chairs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — neither of which has anything to do with national intelligence. The law creating the DNI position requires the nominee to have extensive national security expertise. Pulte has none. By appointing him in an acting capacity, Trump bypasses the Senate confirmation process that would surface that disqualification, according to Vance.What Pulte does have is a track record. He is currently under investigation for allegedly using his FHFA position to target Trump political opponents, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, with what Vance described as unsubstantiated mortgage fraud allegations. NBC News reported that Pulte sent criminal referrals on both women to the Justice Department. Cook, the first Black woman to serve as Fed Governor, was subsequently fired by Trump.Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the appointment a window into what Trump expects from whoever holds the job.Americans have every reason to worry about what happens when the official charged with overseeing everything from counterterrorism to foreign election threats is chosen for his willingness to advance the president's political agenda rather than his experience, Warner said. That is how intelligence becomes politicized, how inconvenient facts disappear, how agencies charged with protecting our democracy instead become tools to manipulate it.Pulte has not expressed regret for his role in the referrals against James and Cook.