Schumer, Warner speak after Clayton confirmation hearing delayed under Trump pressure

[0:00] We're going to be joined by Leonard Schumer in a moment. [0:04] I literally thought I'd gotten to the point where the Trump administration couldn't surprise me anymore. [0:14] But, you know, over the last couple of weeks and as recently as last night, we have proven different. [0:21] I'm glad the leader is here. [0:22] Let me go ahead and lay out the background first about why we're here. [0:25] Mark, would you please lay out the background? [0:27] Thank you. Thank you, Senator. [0:28] What we're witnessing today is an extraordinary display of dysfunction from a president who seems to turn America's national security into a political bargaining chip. [0:44] At every turn, the president has interjected uncertainty into a process that should be focused on keeping American people safe. [0:55] Let me give you a simple fact. [0:56] This is not a normal Democrats versus Republicans. [1:00] Candidly, on this one, Democrats and Republicans have been working in good faith to come to a compromise on a national security tool that's critical. [1:13] And this is a controversial tool. [1:15] I mean, there are friends and people I have huge respect for, Senator Wyden and others, who feel it needs even more reform. [1:23] But one of the things that, to get to 60 votes, we had to work together. [1:28] And I think we had come up, and it would have been, it would be fully debated at some point, the reforms we put in place. [1:36] But while we were proceeding ahead on this bipartisan path, the president decided to install as an acting DNI, which, by the way, is not even granted by the law. [1:49] The law says if there is a vacancy, the number two becomes the acting. [1:55] He has chosen an individual that does not meet even the basic tenets of the law. [1:59] You've got to have a national security background. [2:00] Bill Pulte, to our knowledge, doesn't even have a security clearance. [2:07] And the only thing he's shown is a willingness to take confidential information in terms of private mortgage information and weaponize it. [2:19] And that should be a precursor to giving him the keys to the 18 intelligence agencies that is about to take place. [2:27] And this is something that, you know, again, Republicans and Democrats alike have expressed huge consternation. [2:33] So it appeared that the president was going to back off last week. [2:39] He indicated with a huge pushback from people inside his administration this would be a disaster, that he put forward another name in Jay Clayton. [2:49] I've known Mr. Clayton. [2:49] I had serious questions for him this afternoon about election integrity and other items. [2:56] But again, we tried to work in good faith. [3:00] But at four o'clock in the morning, the president on Truth Social, National Security by Tweet, [3:08] says that not only does he want to pull Clayton back, [3:11] but he wants to take a voter disenfranchisement law that does not have the votes [3:17] and make that a prerequisite to signing FISA extension. [3:23] So the truth is, even as Congress has tried to work together, [3:28] the White House continues to move the goalposts. [3:31] This is not good for our national security. [3:33] It makes Americans less safe. [3:36] And what, at least in terms of this debate, [3:40] this is not, again, Senate Democrats versus Senate Republicans. [3:43] This is a careless White House, [3:46] a president that is treating our national security with complete disdain [3:51] and acting at a level of recklessness that puts Americans at risk. [3:56] This may be an effort to try to distract from a deal that we still don't know about in terms of Iran [4:01] that clearly is not going to be meeting any of the administration's goals. [4:07] But this is not a good day for American national security. [4:10] And we will see where we lead from here. [4:12] With that, I'd like to turn it over to the majority leader, [4:15] I'm sorry, future majority leader, soon to be majority leader, [4:17] Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer. [4:19] Thank you. [4:20] Sorry I was late. [4:22] But I want to thank Chairman Warner and our Democratic colleagues, [4:25] Vice Chairman, soon to be Chairman, [4:28] Warner and members of the Intelligence Committee, Senators Kelly and Wyden. [4:32] Look, Trump's actions overnight make it clear he is undermining our national security. [4:41] He doesn't give a damn about the American people's safety, plain and simple. [4:47] And every action he takes undercuts our safety for his own ridiculous, [4:56] sometimes even indiscernible political motivation. [5:02] Trump's actions overnight make it clear the fact that Trump withdrew Jay Clayton [5:08] should erase anyone's doubts. [5:10] Trump wants FISA to stay expired. [5:14] Why does he want FISA to stay expired? [5:19] That's a question the American people are asking, [5:23] because no one can understand the rationale for it. [5:26] Trump threw another grenade into the negotiations, [5:28] again, by tying FISA to the SAVE Act. [5:31] He knows deliberately that that will make sure that FISA remains in lapse. [5:39] And if he thinks that he is going to save his SAVE Act by attaching it to FISA, [5:46] he's got something to come. [5:47] We will never pass the SAVE Act. [5:49] Never. [5:50] It is so damaging to our democracy. [5:54] And every time Republicans, the Republicans are searching for a path forward. [6:00] Trump slams the door shut. [6:02] He pulled the rug out from under his Republicans who were trying to find that path forward. [6:07] What shambles. [6:09] What an embarrassment. [6:10] Anyone have any doubts where Trump is at? [6:15] Look at the chart here. [6:16] This is Trump's hostage note. [6:18] He quote, his quote, [6:19] I will not approve FISA. [6:22] You got any doubts out there? [6:25] We are canceling the Senate hearing. [6:28] Again, pulling the rug out from under, even people like Cotton and, of course, Thune. [6:34] And Bill Pulte will remain as the acting director of national intelligence, [6:40] a man dangerous, dangerous to our national security. [6:44] Trump doesn't give a damn about our national security or the safety of the American people. [6:51] He's holding America's security hostage. [6:57] Trump, Americans, Democrats and Republicans are telling you national security is not a pawn. [7:04] Stop playing with it. [7:07] Stop using it for what you think is your political advantage. [7:11] And then here's another thing he said. [7:14] He said he wanted to add a slight bit of intrigue. [7:17] There can be no intrigue when it comes to protecting our national security. [7:28] What Trump is doing is just a clear and present danger to America. [7:32] Congress has to conduct oversight to figure out what exactly Trump plans to ask Pulte to do [7:38] and hold him accountable. [7:40] Senate Republicans must work with Democrats to stop Trump and Pulte from meddling with our national security. [7:48] We cannot and will not entrust the intelligence community to Trump's personal attack dog, Pulte, [7:54] who has absolutely zero relevance experience. [7:58] Now, Republicans must now choose. [8:00] Either cave into Donald Trump's hyper-partisan demands or work with us to protect our national security. [8:08] It's on them. [8:09] It's on the Republicans. [8:10] Senator Wyden. [8:11] Thank you, Leader Schumer. [8:13] And my colleagues are making some important points. [8:17] And let me make clear what my priority is. [8:21] The reason that I feel so strongly about real and permanent intelligence reforms [8:29] is because the person sitting in charge today, based on Donald Trump, may not be there tomorrow. [8:39] And to protect the American people, we need real and permanent reforms. [8:43] Donald Trump is reminding everybody that he'll swap his people around any time he feels like it. [8:50] He's also made it clear that he expects whoever is director of national intelligence [8:55] to promote baseless election conspiracy theories. [9:00] And if they don't, he's just going to fire them and appoint the next yes person. [9:05] This means that the only way to protect Americans' rights is with black-letter permanent intelligence reforms [9:14] that put checks in place on whoever is in power. [9:19] Trump's position on FISA surveillance changes practically every day, [9:24] which leaves it up to members of Congress to get together and negotiate reforms. [9:31] Unfortunately, Chairman Cotton hasn't been willing to do that. [9:35] I, for example, proposed Section 702 for a longer period of time than was on offer, [9:42] with a few measures to increase transparency. [9:46] And Senator Werner and I always talk about these issues. [9:50] We often find common ground, sometimes we don't. [9:53] But Senator Cotton blocked our proposal and allowed Section 702 to expire. [9:58] We wanted it to be in place. [10:00] He let it expire. [10:02] So I just close this up by saying it is now even clearer than before [10:07] that the only path to 60 votes in the United States Senate on intelligence is real reform, [10:15] actual black-letter law that addresses these issues and shows, as Ben Franklin said, [10:21] that you can have liberty and security simultaneously. [10:24] Senator Kelly, an advocate of both. [10:29] Thank you, everybody. [10:31] Let me try to explain where we are briefly. [10:35] I don't want to repeat what my colleagues have already said. [10:40] But a week ago when FISA expired. [10:44] So what does that mean for the American people? [10:47] So if you're sitting at home in a place like Arizona or maybe Arkansas or South Dakota [10:53] or all the other states, like what does this mean to you as an individual? [10:58] How does it affect you and your family? [11:00] Well, think about it this way. [11:01] That through this law, FISA, we are able to gather intelligence from our foreign adversaries, [11:13] foreign nationals, overseas, through a number of different ways. [11:19] And with that intelligence, we have, on a number of occasions, [11:27] prevented bad things happening to the American people, terrorist attacks, [11:32] sometimes here, sometimes overseas. [11:36] It is an incredibly valuable tool that Donald Trump doesn't seem to care about. [11:43] And he's completely messed this up. [11:45] Then on top of this, he nominated for one of the most critical jobs in our country, [11:54] the director of national intelligence, a person that by any measure is unqualified for the job. [12:01] I was thinking about this a few weeks ago when Bill Pulte's name first came up. [12:07] If you were to make a list of the one million most qualified Americans to be the director of national intelligence, [12:19] Bill Pulte would not be on that list. [12:24] It is shocking that he put him forward for consideration by the Senate Intelligence Committee. [12:31] So the president has been using this sort of like a game. [12:39] But this is our national security. [12:42] And our national security should never be a game and it shouldn't be a bargaining chip. [12:48] And over the last couple days, he's now inserted the SAVE Act into this process. [12:53] What that means for my constituents in Arizona, [12:57] I've got hundreds of thousands of tribal members that often don't have a birth certificate. [13:03] They don't have a passport. [13:07] Even though they vote by mail, they often have to make a 75-mile trip to even get to a mailbox. [13:13] A polling place to vote in person? [13:16] It's out of the question. [13:18] He's trying to disenfranchise millions of Americans from voting and he's inserting that into this process. [13:27] So you have the combination of Americans are becoming less safe [13:31] and he's now inserted weakening our democracy into this. [13:37] So, I mean, my point here is the president has lost his way on this issue. [13:42] He should stop doing things at 4 a.m. and tweeting without sharing his plans with maybe some people around him who could advise him. [13:54] But this has become a complete debacle. [13:58] And now it's up to the White House to figure out a path forward here. [14:03] We had a path forward as of yesterday, and today we don't. [14:08] And that's because of this president and his advisors. [14:13] Well, I'm not going to reveal confidences, but I can tell you that when Pulte was first announced, [14:38] people in Donald Trump's national security team, I think, were shocked. [14:43] You then saw comments of my Republican partners who, almost to a person, said he was unqualified. [14:59] We worked together to try to provide two or three different off-ramps. [15:07] Those were not taken. [15:09] It appeared that the pressure got so great and the choice was so unqualified that the president stepped back and said, [15:20] well, he's only going to be acting. [15:25] We made clear that we needed to see a serious replacement. [15:30] I was going to give tough questions for Jay Clayton. [15:34] He was, I can assure you, even if Jay Clayton had been confirmed, many Democrats were going to vote against him. [15:40] That's the right. [15:42] But to take somebody who at least had the national security experience and had a background [15:47] and has not got a record of disclosing classified information, [15:52] and then to have him yanked unceremoniously in the middle of the night? [15:59] Mark Kelly's right. [16:01] Debacle was an understatement here. [16:03] We're playing, as the leader said, playing with our national security this way. [16:08] It's outrageous. [16:09] I mean, could you imagine the, some of my friends on the Republican side who are viewed as like the security hawks? [16:18] If this had been a Democratic president doing these kind of antics, they'd be threatening to burn the House down. [16:25] You want to add something to that? [16:26] Yeah, I've got to go to a leadership meeting. [16:28] I've got to run a, yes, right, no, right here, right here. [16:31] Well, any questions for me, and then I've got to run a leadership meeting. [16:41] Yeah, there's a simple way. [16:43] It's on our Republican colleagues to work with us to find a capable director, [16:51] not someone who's a menace, and second, then, to work with us on renewing FISA. [16:58] It's up to them. [16:59] It's up to them. [17:00] This is Republican president, Republican House, Republican Senate, all screwing up with each other. [17:07] They've got to come to an agreement, and they've got to have the courage to buck the president, [17:11] who clearly doesn't want a DNI director and doesn't want FISA renewed. [17:19] All he wants is Pulte. [17:20] Pulte, it is so obvious to everybody that Pulte, to have Pulte at the hands of the gears with these tools [17:42] would be dangerous to America, and even our Republican colleagues know it. [17:46] Senator Warner, I've got to go. [17:48] Well, it's seven, listen, ma'am, ma'am, well, first of all, you know, one of the things we didn't know [17:56] when FISA lab would, will the telcos and the participants still participate? [18:01] So far, they are, number one. [18:04] Number two, the concerns I have about Bill Pulte, frankly, have less to do with 702 [18:12] than the national security risk of showing our nation's top secrets to an individual who's shown [18:23] no respect for law, for privacy, the idea that he would weaponize mortgage information [18:33] and the reward is you want to give him access to our national secrets? [18:39] That, if that is your position or anybody else, that is the ultimate irresponsible position [18:42] and is not going to meet America's needs. [18:45] Yes, sir. [18:46] Yes, sir. [18:46] Let me just make sure that you hear what the offer was at the end of last week. [18:52] I offered five weeks. [18:55] I didn't change any surveillance tools. [18:58] All I said was there has to be some oversight and some accountability. [19:02] That was a stronger position than anybody had on offer, and I made it specifically for a [19:08] response to your question. [19:09] Yes, sir. [19:09] Peter Schumer said that it's on Republicans now to work with Democrats to find a nominee [19:14] who can come forward and be put forward. [19:17] Is it your understanding at this point that Clayton is- [19:19] I am not sure. [19:20] I am not sure whether Jay Clayton has simply been postponed or withdrawn. [19:29] I wonder whether Jay Clayton knows whether he has been postponed or withdrawn. [19:39] And again, that is a level of chaos, incompetence. [19:45] When we're talking about our national security, when we're talking about adversaries around the [19:50] world, what signal does this send? [19:53] I mean, I know this, one, that American national security leaders that have been appointed by [20:00] Donald Trump were very concerned about the idea of Pulte coming in. [20:07] Two, I know that our allies, when you put somebody of this level of non-experience and [20:15] his only record is being willing to do whatever Trump says, regardless of the law, I fear our [20:21] allies will cut back on sharing intelligence. [20:27] That has nothing to do with 702. [20:28] It has to do with whether this guy gets the keys to the kingdom. [20:32] And again, this is not idle. [20:35] If you will go back, and this is even- I had lots of differences with Director Gabbard. [20:41] But there are already, because of some of the non-professional approach in undermining [20:45] speaking truth to power, go look at the Dutch press or the Dutch government, which punches [20:51] way above its weight in terms of a good partner and ally, was saying with this kind of approach [20:58] to national security and not respecting confidential information, potentially violating sources [21:02] and methods. [21:03] They weren't sure they were going to share with America as much as they did in the past. [21:08] That is not in America's best interest. [21:09] Well, can I take one back there? [21:10] Mark, just on this point, again, the policy issues are just as important. [21:16] I've been talking to Senator Lee. [21:18] Senator Lee and I are both interested in warrants. [21:21] We've got to talk about something to ensure that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance [21:26] Act, which we feel strongly about, really deals with foreigners. [21:30] But if law-abiding Americans are swept up in it, we need to have some protection for them. [21:35] Democrats and Republicans want to work with Senator Warner and Senator Cotton to get that [21:39] done as well. [21:40] Yes, ma'am. [21:42] That's what I want to say. [21:43] You are clearly on different positions on this three-year visa reauthorization that was [21:47] negotiated with Senator Cotton, and you're saying there's not 60 votes without reforms. [21:51] You said there were 60 votes if Hulti had not been nominated for acting DNI. [21:55] So what exactly, is there enough Democratic support for this bill if Clayton were to be confirmed? [22:00] Yeah. [22:01] Time will tell. [22:02] I know this. [22:03] Senator Wyden and I have discussed this, gone back and forth. [22:08] He's got points. [22:09] I've got points. [22:10] We're going to continue those discussions. [22:12] But I know the idea that Donald Trump, with his actions, didn't destroy this process, [22:25] allow FISA to lapse, anyone that makes a question otherwise I don't think understands the circumstance [22:32] or situation, and we will see going forward. [22:35] But the one thing we do know is that FISA is not going to be reauthorized if it's attached [22:41] to a SAVE Act, which is never going to pass. [22:43] FISA is not going to be reauthorized if Donald Trump continues to play, you know, personalities, [22:51] and has a litany of non-qualified people for senior intelligence roles. [22:56] That is, my job is to protect national security of America. [23:00] This person is a national security threat, not because of 702, but because exposed to our nation's top secrets. [23:08] And I want to be clear since you raised my name. [23:11] I want to be clear since you raised my name. [23:14] I am not for expiration. [23:16] I'm for smart policy that ensures both liberty and security. [23:21] And if you look at what the debate was all about last week, I must have mentioned it 20 times. [23:25] Thanks, everybody. [23:28] Are you concerned at all that FISA is no longer an effective point of leverage to defeat the administration to remove faulty? [23:35] And if so, do Democrats have other means to try to force a removal, say, lawsuit? [23:41] Again, when, you know, the question that we are still, I think, don't have a fulsome answer on is will the communication providers still work with the government? [23:58] You know, the law does extend until March. [24:02] The question is, without indemnification, will they still participate? [24:06] And I think that is still an open question. [24:09] And I hope and pray we don't get to the point where they choose not to when we don't have this tool renewed. [24:16] But again, this ends with where I started. [24:21] I didn't think the president could still surprise me. [24:26] But he has surprised me with an incompetent choice. [24:29] He has individually derailed this key tool against the wishes of most of the, I would call, the more rational people in his national security circle. [24:39] And he clearly has gone against the good faith efforts of national security Republicans in the Senate. [24:50] This is not the normal Democrat Republican. [24:55] This is, I think, sensible people work together on a reformed piece of legislation that I thought would have had the votes. [25:02] Where we head from here, we'll see. [25:07] But thank you all so much. [25:09] Thank you so much. [26:49] OK. [26:50] OK. [26:51] OK. [26:52] OK. [26:54] OK. [26:55] We're going to want to hit right now. [27:13] Yeah, it got human. [27:29] I didn't see that game either. [27:54] I saw the highlights. [27:56] I didn't see it because I was trapped in my home and I had other things to do. [27:59] So, as soon as I got home, I was still going to shoot up. [28:02] It's not my, I don't have a position. [28:06] No, the mother died for it. [28:09] The guy from the PSU.