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Jay Clayton
Director of National Intelligence and White House AI Czar, Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Jon Ossoff Puts DNI Nominee Jay Clayton On The Spot During Heated Hearing

📅 Sep 28, 2026 Sean Harrington 20 MIN 4 VIEWS 124 SEGMENTS · 4 SPEAKERS
Jon Ossoff Puts DNI Nominee ​Jay Clayton ​On The Spot During ​Heated Hearing. During a Senate confirmation hearing, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) questioned Jay Clayton, ​President ​Trump’s nominee to serve as Director of National Intelligence, pressing him on his qualifications and views as he faced the Senate’s ​scrutiny.

What Jay Clayton said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Jay Clayton, nominee for Director of National Intelligence, faced a heated confirmation hearing. Under questioning from Senator Ossoff, Clayton acknowledged that President Trump pardoned convicted narcotrafficker Juan Orlando Hernandez but refused to state who won the 2020 election, saying he would not 'get into that.' He also said he first learned of Director Gabbard's presence at the Fulton County raid from Ossoff the previous day and was unaware of committee probes or testimony from his office's General Counsel. On Inspectors General, Clayton said the FY27 budget cut was developed with IGs and OMB/DOJ, and that less funding doesn't mean less work. He confirmed DOJ coordinates with other agencies on the March 31 executive order on elections, taking policy direction from President Trump, including from DHS official Heather Honey.

Key takeaways

  1. Clayton refused to answer who won the 2020 election, saying 'I'm not going to get into that with you.'
  2. Clayton confirmed President Trump pardoned convicted narcotrafficker Juan Orlando Hernandez.
  3. Clayton said he first learned of Director Gabbard's Fulton County raid presence from Senator Ossoff the day before the hearing.
  4. Clayton defended the FY27 IG budget cut as agreed upon with IGs, OMB, and DOJ.
  5. Clayton said DOJ takes election policy direction from President Trump, including from DHS official Heather Honey.

Numbers and commitments

FigureWhat it refers toTypeAt
18:1 Return on investment for Inspectors General spending metric 5:53

Chapters

  1. 0:00Pardon of Juan Orlando Hernandez
  2. 1:102020 election refusal
  3. 3:03Gabbard Fulton County raid
  4. 5:53Inspectors General budget cut
  5. 9:12March 31 executive order
  6. 10:45Heather Honey and policy direction

Questions asked in this interview

12
  1. 0:00You have an obligation to be honest and forthright with this committee, correct?
  2. 0:40Know so at massive scale, yes?
  3. 1:02Did the President of the United States pardon a convicted narcotrafficker?
  4. 1:54Who won the 2020 presidential election?
  5. 2:22Answer it. What is your answer?
  6. 3:03Are you aware that Director Gabbard was present at the Fulton County raid in Georgia earlier this year?
  7. 3:24Yes or no. Are you aware?
  8. 4:05Are you aware that former Director Gabbard testified that her presence at the raid was, quote, requested by the president?
  9. 4:53If the White House Chief of Staff or the President asks you to travel somewhere across the United States and oversee the execution of a domestic search warrant on a sensitive election facility, will you do it?
  10. 5:15Will you give him the opportunity to answer the question?
  11. 5:36Yes or no, is it appropriate?
  12. 8:29So, is there another reason you just don't want IGs on the job?
Senator 0:00 ↗
You have an obligation to be honest and forthright with this committee, correct?
Jay Clayton 0:08 ↗
Yes.
Senator 0:10 ↗
And is it the case in the Juan Orlando Hernandez case that the President of the United States pardoned a man who had worked with the Sinaloa Cartel to facilitate massive narcotrafficking into the United States?
Jay Clayton 0:29 ↗
I don't remember the specifics of that case, but...
Senator 0:32 ↗
In your district.
Jay Clayton 0:33 ↗
Convicted. I'm just... we convict a lot of people for a lot of drugs.
Senator 0:37 ↗
Convicted of narcotrafficking, yes?
Jay Clayton 0:38 ↗
I believe so.
Senator 0:40 ↗
Know so at massive scale, yes?
Jay Clayton 0:42 ↗
Well, you're telling me what I know. That's kind of... he was, I believe... look, I'll take your word for it. He was a convicted narcotrafficker.
Senator 0:51 ↗
Did the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, pardon a convicted narcotrafficker?
Jay Clayton 0:58 ↗
I believe we just discussed that. The President provided a pardon, yes.
Senator 1:02 ↗
Yes or no? Did the President of the United States pardon a convicted narcotrafficker?
Jay Clayton 1:09 ↗
Yes.
Senator 1:10 ↗
Who won the 2020 election?
Jay Clayton 1:12 ↗
You know, we're not... I'm not going to do this with you.
Senator 1:16 ↗
This is a job interview. We have established that you have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee. Yes, you do have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee.
Jay Clayton 1:27 ↗
Yes.
Senator 1:28 ↗
Who won the 2020 election?
Jay Clayton 1:29 ↗
Like I said, I'm not going to get into that with you.
Senator 1:32 ↗
But you do have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee.
Jay Clayton 1:35 ↗
Is anything that I just said not honest or forthright?
Senator 1:38 ↗
Yes, you're not being honest or forthright. Who won the 2020 election?
Jay Clayton 1:42 ↗
We can keep doing this.
Senator 1:44 ↗
Well, we're going to keep doing it because you're not being honest and forthright with the committee.
It's a simple question, Mr. Clayton.
Jay Clayton 1:54 ↗
And I've answered...
Senator 1:54 ↗
Who won the 2020 presidential election?
Jay Clayton 1:57 ↗
I've answered it.
Senator 1:59 ↗
You're here asking for the support of senators to lead America's intelligence community. We have established that you have an obligation to be honest and forthright with this committee and with the American public, but you refuse to answer a simple matter of fact about the 2020 election. Is that right?
Jay Clayton 2:18 ↗
No, that's not right.
Senator 2:19 ↗
Then answer the question. Who won the 2020 election?
Jay Clayton 2:21 ↗
I have answered the question.
Senator 2:22 ↗
Answer it. What is your answer?
Jay Clayton 2:25 ↗
I've given you my answer.
Senator 2:27 ↗
What is your answer? You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election.
Jay Clayton 2:37 ↗
No, I...
Senator 2:37 ↗
But you ask to lead America's intelligence community. Isn't it humiliating to be unable to answer this question? To have to indulge the president's delusions? We know, you know, everybody in this room knows the truthful answer to that question. Why can you not give it?
Jay Clayton 3:00 ↗
I think I gave you the answer.
Senator 3:03 ↗
Are you aware that Director Gabbard was present at the Fulton County raid in Georgia earlier this year?
Jay Clayton 3:09 ↗
You discussed that with me yesterday in your office.
Senator 3:15 ↗
Are you aware that Director Gabbard was present at the Fulton County raid earlier this year?
Jay Clayton 3:22 ↗
You brought it to my attention...
Senator 3:24 ↗
You've said at the beginning of this you have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee. I'm asking a very simple question. Are you aware that Director Gabbard was present at the Fulton County raid earlier this year? Yes or no. Are you aware?
Jay Clayton 3:35 ↗
I was...
Senator 3:36 ↗
You won't answer that question either.
Jay Clayton 3:38 ↗
I said I was made aware of it by you yesterday.
Senator 3:41 ↗
The first time you learned that Director Gabbard was present at that raid was in my office yesterday?
Jay Clayton 3:46 ↗
It was the first time that in my recollection I thought about it recently. Now, was I aware of it before? What? You brought it to my attention yesterday. I had not thought...
Senator 4:01 ↗
You had not known until...
Jay Clayton 4:02 ↗
I had not thought about it until you brought it to my attention yesterday.
Senator 4:05 ↗
Your answers lack credibility. Your testimony lacks credibility. You're being evasive and you're not being candid or forthright. And everybody across the country's going to watch this and know that. Are you aware that former Director Gabbard testified that her presence at the raid was, quote, requested by the president?
Jay Clayton 4:26 ↗
I'm not aware of that until now.
Senator 4:29 ↗
Okay, you are now aware of that.
Jay Clayton 4:31 ↗
Yeah.
Senator 4:31 ↗
Are you aware that members of this committee are already probing Director Gabbard's potential misconduct in this matter?
Jay Clayton 4:39 ↗
No. I'm not privy to your probe into...
Senator 4:44 ↗
Are you aware that the General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel of your office have already provided testimony to this committee regarding this matter?
Jay Clayton 4:52 ↗
No.
Senator 4:53 ↗
If the White House Chief of Staff or the President asks you to travel somewhere across the United States and oversee the execution of a domestic search warrant on a sensitive election facility, will you do it?

59 more exchanges in this transcript

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Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX
APA

Clayton, J. (2026, September 28). Jon Ossoff Puts DNI Nominee Jay Clayton On The Spot During Heated Hearing [Interview transcript]. Sean Harrington. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2961283/

MLA

Jay Clayton. "Jon Ossoff Puts DNI Nominee Jay Clayton On The Spot During Heated Hearing." Sean Harrington, 28 Sep. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2961283/.

BibTeX
@misc{clayton2026_2961283,
  author       = {Jay Clayton},
  title        = {Jon Ossoff Puts DNI Nominee Jay Clayton On The Spot During Heated Hearing},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, Sean Harrington. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {sep},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2961283/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}