Trump Reveals He told Acting DNI Bill Pulte to ‘Declassify Whatever You Want’

President Donald Trump revealed Wednesday that he instructed acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to “declassify whatever you want,” signaling he’d given his intelligence chief a sweeping mandate while he serves in the role temporarily.

Trump made the remarks while taking questions from reporters as he boarded the new Air Force One, a plane gifted by the Qatari government, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

One reporter asked Trump whether he had an update on declassification efforts under Pulte, noting the administration’s task force focused on releasing government records.

“You can declassify almost everything. And you know, by the way, we have Jay Clayton is going in,” Trump replied. “Bill Pulte is a very talented guy but he’s there temporarily until Jay Clayton. And Jay Clayton is going through the process. And Jay Clayton, highly respected, and so is Bill Pulte. But Bill is there just for a fairly short period of time but while he’s there I said you can declassify whatever you want.”

When asked whether new disclosures could come soon, Trump suggested Pulte would decide the timing: “You gotta ask him but I think that Bill will declassify, yes.”

The president continued: “I told him you can declassify whatever you want. So Bill’s there just for maybe a month or two months or something. And Jay is going through the process. He’s got a hearing in two weeks. Highly respected man, Jay Clayton.”

Pulte was tapped by Trump to serve as acting director of national intelligence after his predecessor, Tulsi Gabbard, announced she would step down to help care for her husband, who is battling cancer.

As acting DNI, Pulte oversees the U.S. intelligence community, including agencies such as the CIA and NSA, while serving as the president’s principal intelligence adviser alongside the National Security Council on national security and foreign policy matters.

His appointment drew scrutiny on Capitol Hill because he has no military or intelligence background.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle also questioned the selection following Pulte’s previous tenure leading the Federal Housing Finance Agency, where he pushed efforts targeting some of Trump’s political opponents over allegations related to mortgage fraud.

Watch above via Fox News.

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