The outgoing director of national intelligence spent his last days on the job bragging about unproven firings, per the New York Times.
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Bill Pulte, the acting director of national intelligence, is expected to be replaced on Tuesday by Jay Clayton after a short-lived stint as President Donald Trump’s spy chief. During his last days and hours on the job, Pulte bragged that he reduced staff at the office of the director of national intelligence (ODNI), a claim ex-officials doubt, according to reporting by the Times.
The Times noted a “flurry of social media posts” by Pulte. In a Tuesday post on X, he wrote, “We are, this morning, Executing a 5th and near final round of Terminations, an approximately 30 percent Staff Reduction from Weeks ago.”
However, Pulte’s office provided “no details” about the firings, the Times noted. Several former U.S. intelligence officials told the Times that they don’t believe his claims of a reduction.
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“The acting DNI has been quick to announce firings and make public claims about them, but has so far declined to provide the Senate Intelligence Committee with the information necessary to assess the accuracy of those statements or the basis for those decisions,” Rachel Cohen, a spokesperson for Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), told the Times. Warner is the top Democrat on the committee.
Other former officials told the Times that Pulte was counting people who completed their tour of duty at the ODNI and were returning to their home agencies as planned. He also appeared to have been counting unfilled positions at the National Counterterrorism Center and other parts of the ODNI as part of the terminations, per the Times.
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