Confirmation Hearing for Director of National Intelligence Nominee Jay Clayton

Today's hearing is an opportunity to consider Mr. Clayton's qualifications.

So I'd like to welcome him and his wife, Gretchen, to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Mr. Clayton, thank you for once again answering the call to public service.

To your family and loved ones, including those watching from home, thank you for your support during this process.

I want to state for the record that Mr. Clayton has provided answers to our standard 40 page committee questionnaire.

He has answered in writing more than 200 advanced questions for the record as well.

He has completed his FBI background investigation.

He has met with most members of this committee and he has provided more than five years of tax returns.

This is no small feat, but was helped in large part by the fact that this was his third time through the process.

I want to thank all of those persons and organizations who worked to move his nomination at very fast speeds.

That includes our committee staff, the staff at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, the Office of Government Ethics, and the White House Counsel's Office.

Mr. Clayton, it's my understanding that you intend to finish

Ms. Gabbard's work to return the ODNI to its original size, scope, and mission.

I've long said that the right number of staff at the ODNI would number in the dozens, maybe a couple hundreds at the maximum, but certainly not the thousands of recent years.

Congress intended the ODNI to be a lean and efficient organization to keep bureaucratic intelligence agencies at bay.

But some 20 years later, the ODNI has unfortunately become yet another bloated agency that incentivizes bureaucratic make work as opposed to genuine intelligence work.

Mr. Clayton, given your many years as a seasoned professional in both government and private practice, I'm eager to hear how your experiences will inform your plans to return the ODNI to those roots.

I look forward to working with you to provide any legislative relief that you deem necessary, such as transferring centers or functions to other government agencies.

Because while many functions that are needful occur at the ODNI, they don't necessarily need to be occurring there.

Additionally, I'm interested in hearing about your efforts to advance America's national security in your current role as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

As US Attorney, Mr. Clayton has gone after some of the worst of the worst national security threats, including foreign enemies who put innocent Americans at risk and have American blood on their hands.

For example, he's overseeing the indictment of Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro.

Secured the guilty plea of Venezuelan General Hugo Carvajal and overseeing the prosecution of an Iran backed terrorist connected to multiple attempted terror attacks in the United States.

These are just a few high profile cases.

Let me stay for the record that Mr Clayton has worked hand in glove with our intelligence agencies and counterterrorism personnel to lock up criminals who threaten our national security.