Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House aide turned podcaster, delivered a sharp critique Friday of newly installed Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, who is rumored to be a leading contender to serve as the president’s new AI czar.
Bannon noted that it had been “leaked that Jay Clayton is now being tipped for the head of artificial intelligence.”
Bannon began by offering Clayton some praise for his legal career before quickly pivoting to criticism.
“As you know, I think Jay Clayton is a great lawyer. I think he’s fantastic at Sullivan & Cromwell,” Bannon said.
He then raised concerns about what he described as Clayton’s past work involving Alibaba.
“You know, I don’t know how an Alibaba general counsel, who got Alibaba through an IPO, which is a military information network for the Chinese Communist Party, and a surveillance apparatus, could be Director of National Intelligence,” Bannon said.
Bannon followed with a bit of self-deprecation.
“But hey, you know, I’m just some mick yelling into a microphone,” he said.
He went on to take aim at Clayton’s record so far as DNI, pointing specifically to what he said was a lack of declassified material since Bill Pulte’s departure.
“Jay Clayton’s over at DNI, and I haven’t seen a declassification, not one, since Bill Pulte left. Just saying, just saying,” Bannon said.
Bannon also previewed an upcoming appearance on his show.
“We’re gonna have John Solomon on next week. I think we’ve got some pretty big developments across the board in certain areas, John Solomon’s task force, but he doesn’t have a wingman right now because Pulte’s not there declassifying,” he said.
Turning to the AI czar position, Bannon argued the role is too important to be treated as a side job.
“Now Jay Clayton is the head of artificial intelligence, going to be the czar. My recommendation is, hey, maybe the czar should be a full-time gig, because it is a monumentally important topic,” Bannon said.
He then made a pitch for Pulte to return, using a baseball analogy.
“And maybe it’s time to bring in Pulte. Get him up in the bullpen, let’s start warming, let’s start loosening up Pulte,” Bannon said.
President Donald Trump had temporarily installed Pulte as DNI, the position that leads all of the nation’s national security agencies, even though Pulte had no background in the military or intelligence.
Pulte has drawn controversy in the past for pushing for the prosecution of Trump’s political opponents over allegations of mortgage fraud. Those efforts never resulted in court cases.
Bannon’s comments signal that at least some voices within the president’s base are uneasy with Clayton’s rise. While Bannon acknowledged Clayton’s legal talent, he made clear he believes the new intelligence chief’s background raises questions, and that Pulte, in his view, is the better choice to take on a larger role in the administration.
