Pulte as DNI to give Trump attack dog access to ‘crown jewels’

President Donald Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence will put the president’s home invasion agency in charge of the country’s most valuable secrets, a move analysts fear could further politicize the office and undermine America’s intelligence community.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was tapped by Trump on Tuesday morning to replace outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard.

Pulte has no background in national intelligence and was an investor and manager of a home-building firm The PulteGroup before working for the government. As a DNI, Pulte will be placed at the top of the US intelligence community and have access to the country’s most sensitive secrets.

That lack of experience and Pulte’s eagerness to use intelligence from domestic agencies to begin prosecuting Trump’s political rivals have alarmed intelligence analysts and lawmakers, who warn Pulte could arm the office against the president’s domestic rivals and erode trust in American intelligence.

“It’s just the latest example of some of the more bumbling and absurd assignments that Trump has made in his second term,” said Brett Bruen, a former National Security Council official under the Obama administration who now heads the tough Global Situation Room. “It opens up a real opportunity for us to be able to see our intelligence structures and programs being eroded, and the role of intelligence being used in inappropriate and illegal ways.”

Bruen said the move would elevate Pulte from getting “cafeteria-brand sensitive information to the crown jewels of our most closely guarded secrets.”

That includes access to highly sensitive intelligence gathering efforts and information about human intelligence sources and surveillance tools.

The White House, when asked about concerns about Pulte’s qualifications and whether he might arm the US intelligence community, defended Trump’s choice.

“The President selects the best and most talented people to serve in his Cabinet,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in an email. “That’s why this Administration has achieved record success for the American people. Bill Pulte was well chosen and will do a great job on behalf of the American people.”

In his role over the housing machinery, Pulte used his access to mortgage records to target some of Trump’s top enemies for prosecution.

The Justice Department charged New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who previously prosecuted Trump, with bank fraud, a charge that was later dropped. Pulte’s referral of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over similar allegations prompted Trump to try to impeach him, a case still pending before the Supreme Court.

“We saw what Pulte was willing to do with the sensitive details of the loan by exposing it and rebuking the president’s opponents,” said Larry Pfeiffer, former executive director of the White House Situation Room and chief of staff to former Central Intelligence Agency director Michael Hayden. Pfeiffer is now the director of the Hayden Center for Intelligence at George Mason University.

“Do we now want to give this guy access to all the deepest, most sensitive national security secrets?” Pfeiffer asked. “I do not think so.”

Pfeiffer said Pulte’s appointment would give him access to “any intelligence produced by the United States intelligence community.”

“These are tools that can easily be traced back to American citizens,” he said, referring to surveillance systems that he called “the most powerful surveillance tools of any nation in the world.”

“There is nothing about the technology that prevents you from targeting American citizens,” Pfeiffer said.

Gabbard, in January, raised concerns among members of Congress after the FBI raided a Georgia election office.

Pulte’s selection also speaks to Trump’s view of the DNI position, the former CIA station chief, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence issues, told CNBC.

Designating a “lapdog is a sign that they don’t have respect or don’t need a DNI,” said a CIA veteran.

Pulte’s nomination has also raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill. He will be able to serve as acting intelligence chief for 180 days, and the Senate will need to confirm who will replace Gabbard on a full-time basis.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., had a strong reaction to Pulte’s nomination Tuesday in brief remarks to reporters.

“We don’t need an armed DNI, we need experts there,” Thune told reporters at the Capitol when asked if he was concerned about Pulte using the perch to arm intelligence against domestic opponents of the president.

Thune said he wanted more information from the White House “about the current state of their thinking on that position.” If the White House wants Pulte to replace him full time, Thune said Pulte will have “a long road ahead of him.”

And Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who recently lost his first run for the Senate after Trump endorsed his opponent, questioned Pulte’s selection.

“I don’t see evidence of any job titles,” he told reporters at the Capitol.

Democrats, meanwhile, rejected Pulte’s nomination.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said Trump “has chosen an official who shows not only a willingness but an eagerness to use federal authorities for political revenge.”

“The concern is not just that Mr. Pulte lacks the ‘extensive national security experience’ required by the job code, which was created after the intelligence failures that led to the deaths of thousands of Americans on 9/11. It’s because he appears to have been chosen precisely because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence statement it needs.

Whether there are tools in place for Congress to impeach Pulte before his 210-day clock expires, however, is unclear.

The law that created the ODNI stipulated that a successor in the event of a vacancy “shall have extensive national security experience and administrative expertise.” It also states that the Deputy Chief of the DNI, currently Aaron Lukas, “shall act, and exercise the authority of the Director of National Intelligence during the absence or disability of the Director of National Intelligence or during the vacancy of the position of Director of National Intelligence.”

“It’s possible for someone [Trump] in court regarding this appointment? It’s possible,” Pfeiffer said, but cautioned that Pulte’s time clock could run out before the case goes anywhere. “I don’t think it’s an effective tool.”

–Eamon Javers contributed to this report.