In the face of a Republican senatorial revolt, including refusal to approve the extension of FISA § 702, which will lapse as the House took off for yet another vacay, to Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as the acting DNI, Trump has announced the nomination of Southern District of New York United States Attorney Jay Clayton as the next DNI.

Clayton, whose qualifications to be US Attorney* were dubious given his complete lack of prosecutorial experience, was at least a decent lawyer. Compared to Pulte, who has no qualifications for the job whatsoever, Clayton seems almost like a decent choice, even though he too fails to meet the statutory qualification of “extensive national security experience,” and he’s very much a Trump sycophant.

This week, Mr. Clayton appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and raised concerns about the recent elections in California, after Mr. Trump suggested there had been fraud in the vote.

Mr. Clayton told CNBC earlier this month that the country was “doing an absolutely terrible job” on issues of election integrity, “and the American people are right to question it.” He also questioned California voting laws, including the lack of voter identification.

“I’m not saying that there is fraud,” Mr. Clayton said. “I am saying that the opportunity for fraud makes no sense to me when we can make a much better system.”

He passed the audition with The Donald, and is far more likely to be confirmed by the Senate despite lacking the requisite qualifications given the cabinet officers already confirmed. But his confirmation will take a while, and in the meantime, Pulte will sit in the big chair.

The current plan is for Mr. Pulte to continue to serve as the acting director until Mr. Clayton’s nomination is reviewed by the Senate.

Therein lies the problem. It appears that Trump tagged Pulte to serve two purposes. First, to rifle through top secret intelligence information to prove that Trump won the 2020 election. Second, to fire personnel and strip the national security apparatus to its barest minimum.

President Donald Trump reportedly said Friday that he wants incoming acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to “start the process” of firing large numbers of employees in the DNI’s office.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump, in an interview, said those firings would be part of a shake-up of the U.S. intelligence community. The office of DNI oversees 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the National Security Agency.

Without any national security experience, and no working knowledge of how the office functions, Pulte can’t possibly be competent to fire anyone, whether the staff is bloated or not. Trump’s desire to fire “large numbers of employees” comes as no surprise, given his open disdain for the US intelligence community and his distrust of its information when it conflicts with what Trump wants to believe. But even if Trump is right, Pulte is the wrong guy to do it, not that either Trump or Pulte will care.

As to finding evidence that the 2020 election was rigged, the damage could be just as severe. Pulte, who does not possess a security clearance yet, will have access to the deepest and darkest secrets, even though he won’t possess the capacity to appreciate what they are or what they mean. In his desperation to prove his adoration of Trump, the potential for him to reveal critical intelligence, including methods and personnel, could be a disaster.

For anyone who might respond, “well, if it proves the election was stolen so what?” consider that Tulsi Gabbard was all too happy to do Trump’s bidding to prove the election was rigged (remember her in Atlanta when they seized the ballot?) and came up empty. And regardless of what you think of Gabbard, she was far more qualified than Pulte.

Trump’s argument in response to challenges to Pulte’s being named Acting DNI was that he would only be there for a short time. That might well be the case, but a lot of damage can be done in a short time when you turn someone as venal and ignorant as Pulte loose. Clayton may well be confirmed in short order, but by then, the damage will be done.

*Clayton was chair of the SEC for three years during Trump 1.0. Before that, he was an M&A partner at Sullivan & Cromwell.