Jay Clayton, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has been nominated by Donald Trump to serve as director of national intelligence, despite having no previous experience in the intelligence community. The nomination comes after pushback on Bill Pulte, another Trump pick for the role.
Legal Career and Trump Ties
Clayton, who also serves as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, has a lengthy legal résumé in both private and public sectors. He is known for his unequivocal support for Trump and his agenda. Before his SEC role, Clayton was a Wall Street attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, where he represented major clients including Goldman Sachs during the 2008 recession. His career made him a multimillionaire.
In 2017, Trump appointed Clayton as SEC chair. In 2025, after Trump's second term began, Clayton was tapped as U.S. attorney for Manhattan, replacing an interim judge who refused to help the Justice Department drop charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. He was not confirmed by the Senate but approved by the court. The Wall Street Journal noted this move placed Clayton, who had largely avoided partisan drama, in the middle of “partisan warfare.”
Election Integrity Comments
Days before his nomination as director of national intelligence, Clayton discussed potential fraud in California’s elections, falsely claiming state laws left an “opportunity for fraud.” On CNBC on June 8, he said of election integrity: “We’re doing an absolutely terrible job, and the American people are right to question it.” Trump has repeatedly called elections “rigged” without evidence. Clayton’s comments align with Trump’s agenda to investigate election fraud, continuing Tulsi Gabbard’s record.
Socializing with Trump
The New York Times reported that Clayton has been socializing and golfing with Trump, and has “often been absent” from his office. Clayton holds an undergraduate engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s from King’s College, Cambridge, and a law degree from Penn in 1993.
This article was amended on June 11, 2026, to clarify that Clayton became U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in 2025. An earlier version misstated the timeline.
