Dan Abrams Warns Trump’s ‘Downright Dangerous’ DNI Pick Will Get Him in ‘Big Trouble’

Dan Abrams warned President Donald Trump’s decision to tap housing official Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence, could be “downright dangerous” for the president.

On Tuesday Trump announced Pulte, who currently leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, would replace outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard. Pulte has been a polarizing figure in Trump’s administration, drawing attention for pursuing allegations of mortgage fraud against several of the president’s political opponents.

Speaking on the Dan Abrams Show on SiriusXM after Trump announced the nomination, Abrams — the founder of Mediaite — said he doubted Pulte would win Senate confirmation but argued the more immediate concern was the power he could wield in the role.

“Pulte has no intel experience, none,” Abrams said. “But the problem isn’t that he’s not qualified, right? There are a lot of people who get positions who are not qualified. This is one of these guys who is uniquely disqualified or disqualifying. And that’s why the president wants him in the role.”

He continued: “The Director of National Intel oversees 18 agencies, all right? Has access to all of the nation’s greatest secrets. That’s why the president wants Bill Pulte there. So he can go after the president’s political enemies.”

Abrams then pointed out that Pulte, who currently oversees government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, had already “been using those databases” to access records of Trump’s political opponents, pointing to criminal referrals involving figures including former Rep. Eric Swalwell, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

“This isn’t just bad. It’s downright dangerous,” Abrams said.

“I’m gonna go a step further and say I think this is gonna be really bad for President Trump,” he continued. “I think this guy is going to get him in trouble. What do I mean by that? The president clearly wants him to have access to as much information on his political opponents and enemies as possible, potentially to use it in improper ways is my theory. And that’s exactly the sort of stuff that got [Richard] Nixon in trouble, right?”

He added: “Now we’re in a different world. In the world we live in today, in the media environment we live today, Nixon wouldn’t have resigned. But, even in the world we live in today, I think that Pulte is going to do things that cross lines that will be discovered in months or years to come that will hurt President Trump in a significant way.”

“This guy is not just unqualified, he’s downright dangerous in this role,” the host warned. “He’s going to start accessing private information they’re not allowed to access. There are going to be conflicts with the FBI.”

Although he said he does not expect Pulte to win Senate confirmation, Abrams noted that the acting appointment could allow him to remain in the role for more than a year.

“But in the meantime, he’s going to cause a lot of trouble and he’s going to cause trouble for the president’s perceived enemies. But I also think he is going to cause trouble for the President himself,” Abrams said, concluding: “I really believe he’s going to end up getting Donald Trump in big trouble.”

Watch above via Sirius XM.

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