Ossoff presses Trump intelligence nominee over 2020 election refusal

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) used a confirmation hearing on Wednesday to press Jay Clayton, Donald Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, on a basic question: who won the 2020 presidential election?

Clayton did not answer directly. Instead, he repeatedly told Ossoff, “I’m not going to get into that with you,” and said he had already addressed the matter multiple times.

Ossoff responded sharply, arguing that someone seeking to lead the U.S. intelligence community should not avoid acknowledging the outcome of a presidential race.

“You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election, but you ask to lead America’s intelligence community?” Ossoff asked. He then said, “Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president’s delusions?”

Trump still claims he won the 2020 election, even though dozens of lawsuits produced no evidence that would change the result, which Joe Biden won.

Earlier in the hearing, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) asked Clayton the same question. Clayton said he was “not an election denier,” but he also declined to say outright that Biden won.

Instead, Clayton said Biden “went through our electoral process” and “was certified” as president. Those remarks, too, left room for continued election denialism.

The exchange underscores how loyalty to Trump’s false claims about 2020 continues to shape the confirmation battles around his nominees.