Trump says he told new acting director of national intelligence to ‘declassify almost everything’

By Alayna Treene, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he told his new acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte that he wants him to “declassify almost everything” while he’s in the role.

“Bill (Pulte) is there just for a fairly short period of time. But while he’s there, I said you can declassify whatever you want,” Trump told reporters. “I think that Bill will declassify. I told him you can declassify whatever you want.”

The president’s comments come after new reporting from NBC News that a White House task force plans to declassify documents from US intelligence agencies to amplify Trump’s claims about past elections.

CNN previously reported that the president sees the director of national intelligence as playing a central role in election security, both past and present.

When selecting Pulte to temporarily take on the job last month, Trump had hoped he would work to declassify certain materials that interest the president, such as those related to the 2020 election and his false claims of widespread election fraud.

Trump noted on Wednesday that Pulte will only be in the role for a short period of time while his formal nominee, Jay Clayton — currently the US attorney for the Southern District of New York — undergoes his confirmation process.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
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