A recent MSNBC interview has sparked concern among supporters of President Donald Trump, after New York Attorney General Letitia James expressed support for Jay Clayton as Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence.

During the interview, James criticized Acting DNI Bill Pulte and suggested that the Senate should support Clayton, describing him as a professional who understands the law and has earned her respect. For many in the MAGA movement, James’s endorsement immediately raises concerns.

WATCH:

Letitia James has been one of Donald Trump’s most prominent political adversaries. She campaigned on investigating and prosecuting Trump and later pursued high-profile civil fraud cases against him. As a result, many Trump supporters view her endorsement of any Trump administration nominee with deep skepticism.

James’s support for Clayton is particularly noteworthy given the controversies surrounding her own conduct. In a series of investigative articles published in The Gateway Pundit, I detailed that James engaged in a long-running pattern of mortgage and real-estate fraud dating back decades, including a loan document where James listed her father as her husband in order to qualify for a property purchase.

I also chronicled James’s 20 years of false representations in various mortgage and property records, where she falsely claimed her 5-unit apartment building in Brooklyn had either 1 or 4 units in order to obtain favorable refinancing terms, lines of credit, and government benefits.

My reports ultimately contributed to referrals of Letitia James to the Department of Justice, culminating in mortgage-fraud-related charges in the Eastern District of Virginia concerning a Virginia property.

That brings us to Jay Clayton.

President Trump’s supporters broadly believe that major federal institutions – particularly within the intelligence and law-enforcement communities – require significant reform, greater transparency, and stronger accountability. Tusli Gabbard’s contributions as DNI were enormous, Gabbard:

– Reduced the size and cost of the intelligence bureaucracy
– Declassified records related to the 2016 Russia investigation
– Exposed US government funding of biolabs in Ukraine
– Exposed Anthony Fauci and COVID Origins
– Oversaw the voter fraud investigation in Georgia
– Fought the CIA to declassify hidden JFK assassination + MK-Ultra Files
– Revoked security clearances from 37 Officials
– Uncovered Ukraine government plot to illegally reroute U.S. taxpayer dollars to Biden’s 2024 campaign
– Launched declassification efforts to expose the truth about UAPs

Walter Joseph Clayton 

As a result of Gabbard’s work, Trump supporters are likely to highly scrutinize any successor to determine whether he will continue that reform agenda or seek to protect the institutional status quo.

Jay Clayton is not an outsider.

Clayton’s résumé reflects extensive experience within elite legal, financial, and regulatory circles – precisely the type of establishment background that MAGA voters have grown skeptical of in recent years.

Clayton built his career within some of America’s most powerful legal and financial institutions. He spent nearly two decades as a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, representing major financial institutions, investment firms, and public corporations in complex transactions and regulatory matters. He later served as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2017 to 2020 before returning to private practice and eventually serving as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. That raises several important questions.

Why does Letitia James support Jay Clayton?

What qualities does she see in him that prompted such public praise?

Does James view Clayton as someone who would preserve existing institutional structures rather than aggressively reform them? And protect her from prosecution?

Those questions are especially relevant because the Director of National Intelligence oversees some of the most powerful and sensitive agencies in the federal government. The position influences intelligence collection, classification decisions, national-security assessments, and the flow of information to both policymakers and the American public.

For that reason, Letitia James’s endorsement creates an unexpected political challenge for Clayton.

To get confirmed, Clayton must explain not only his vision for the intelligence community, but also why one of President Trump’s most outspoken political opponents appears so comfortable with his nomination.

He must explain and demonstrate if he is committed to the reform agenda championed by President Trump and Tulsi Gabbard, or merely plans to protect and preserve the institutions he would be tasked with overseeing.

For Trump supporters, Letitia James’s endorsement is not a recommendation. It is a reason to ask tough questions. Thank you Letitia!

Joel Gilbert is a Los Angeles-based film producer and president of Highway 61 Entertainment. He is the producer of the new film Roseanne Barr Is America. He is also the producer of: Dreams from My Real Father, The Trayvon Hoax, Trump: The Art of the Insult, and many other films on American politics and music icons. Gilbert is on Twitter: @JoelSGilbert.

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