Bill Pulte gets the keys to America's spy apparatus. The man known for viral charity stunts now controls signals intelligence. This happened because Jay Clayton withdrew his nomination. Clayton practiced securities law. Pulte tweets cash at strangers.
Congress tried to stop this. They failed. Pulte will receive briefings on foreign espionage networks, nuclear proliferation, and counterterrorism operations. His previous experience includes philanthropy and real estate. The intelligence budget exceeds $80 billion annually. Pulte once gave a Twitter follower $500 for groceries.
Trump halted Clayton's nomination after Senate resistance. The vacuum needed filling. Pulte filled it. The sixteen agencies comprising the intelligence community will now report to a man whose claim to fame involves random acts of generosity documented for social media engagement. CIA officers spent decades in the field. NSA cryptologists break enemy codes. DIA analysts track military threats. Their new boss went viral for paying someone's rent.
Retail traders will find comfort in this appointment. A man who distributes money without vetting recipients now oversees classified threat assessments. The same discernment that led to tweeting cash at unverified accounts will guide counterintelligence operations. Foreign adversaries are presumably updating their recruitment strategies to include posting sob stories with good engagement metrics.
Congressional oversight committees prepared questions about qualifications and experience. Those questions became irrelevant when Trump moved forward anyway. Pulte receives the briefing book. The briefing book contains information that shapes military deployments and diplomatic strategy. Pulte's timeline contains inspirational quotes and giveaway announcements.
The position requires Senate confirmation under normal circumstances. These are not normal circumstances. Pulte assumes the role while Congress weighs its options. America's enemies are taking notes. Those notes probably include instructions to create compelling Twitter content.
At least the job comes with better benefits than his followers got.
Photo by Adam Michael Szuscik on Unsplash
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