What to know about Jay Clayton, Trump’s pick to be the next intelligence chief

The Senate Intelligence Committee already scheduled Clayton’s confirmation hearing for June 17, meaning he could possibly take over leading the national intelligence community this month before Pulte has the chance to take the acting role.

Ahead of his impending June 17 confirmation hearing, here’s what to know about Clayton, who currently serves as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and previously chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Corporate law career

Trump said in his Truth Social announcement naming Clayton as his ODNI chief that “few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay.”

Clayton, an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania’s undergraduate program and Carey Law School, worked at the New York City-based Sullivan & Cromwell law firm for much of his professional career before Trump nominated him to serve as the chairman of the SEC during the first Trump administration. He also holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Cambridge.

Clayton served as co-managing partner of Sullivan & Cromwell’s general practice group and also led the firm’s cybersecurity group. During his nearly two decades at the firm, Clayton led major merger and acquisition cases and corporate regulatory investigation cases. He used his legal expertise to assist during major global financial and corporate milestones, such as the JPMorgan Chase acquisition of Bear Stearns, Berkshire Hathaway’s $5 billion investment into Goldman Sachs, and British Airways’s merger with Iberia.

Clayton is also an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

SEC chairman in Trump’s first term

The Wall Street lawyer transitioned from the big law world, where he helped financial institutions with regulatory investigations, to the government side of the coin in 2017, when Trump tapped him to serve as the SEC head.

“Jay Clayton is a highly talented expert on many aspects of financial and regulatory law, and he will ensure our financial institutions can thrive and create jobs while playing by the rules at the same time,” Trump said in a statement at the time. “We need to undo many regulations which have stifled investment in American businesses, and restore oversight of the financial industry in a way that does not harm American workers.”

Clayton took the role with a commitment to “set policy that encourages American companies to do what they do best: create jobs.” He was known for his pro-business and pro-investor policies in the role.

He particularly cracked down on bad actors in the financial industry and regulated cryptocurrency in the early days of the industry. His agency established an office to punish cyber-misconduct in the financial sector, taking a strong stance aiming to bring the crypto-industry in line. Though his crypto policies earned him some pushback, the former chairman skated through his tenure without much criticism.

Clayton stepped down from his role at the SEC at the end of Trump’s first term in December 2020, subsequently returning to Sullivan & Cromwell as policy advisor and stepping into the chairman role at financial giant Apollo Global Management.

“Our public and private markets have grown considerably – today, the S&P 500 index is approximately 65 percent above its level on December 30, 2016. At the SEC, we focused on modernizing our regulatory framework, adopting over 90 rules, many in areas that had not been substantively addressed in decades,” Clayton said in his resignation letter.

Southern District of New York

When Trump began his second term, Clayton stepped back into the administration’s spotlight, as the president tapped him to lead one of the most consequential judicial districts in the country: the Southern District of New York.

As the current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Clayton has led the office as it has prosecuted former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, indicted the soldier who allegedly placed a Polymarket bet on Maduro’s capture, and brought indictments against illicit drug distributors.

REPUBLICANS RACE TO CONFIRM TRUMP DNI PICK JAY CLAYTON TO BREAK SPY PROGRAM GRIDLOCK

Trump urged the Senate “to confirm Jay as soon as possible” for the national intelligence job, as Republicans on the Hill have raced to do just that.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) called Clayton “a very qualified professional with a great skill set” on Thursday, saying Trump’s pick “has a great reputation as being an incredibly competent manager.”