{"id":49219,"date":"2026-07-16T12:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T19:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49219"},"modified":"2026-07-16T12:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T19:46:12","slug":"isnt-it-humiliating-to-be-unable-to-answer-asks-ossoff-after-trump-spy-chief-nominee-wont-say-who-won-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/isnt-it-humiliating-to-be-unable-to-answer-asks-ossoff-after-trump-spy-chief-nominee-wont-say-who-won-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Isn\u2019t It Humiliating to Be Unable to Answer?\u2019 Asks Ossoff After Trump Spy Chief Nominee Won\u2019t Say Who Won in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/sen-jon-ossoff-d-ga-speaks-during-a-confirmation-hearing-for-jay-clayton-to-be-the-next-director-of-national-intelligence-on.jpg?id=67163773&amp;width=1200&amp;height=400&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=0%2C290%2C0%2C1377\" alt=\"\u2018Isn\u2019t It Humiliating to Be Unable to Answer?\u2019 Asks Ossoff After Trump Spy Chief Nominee Won\u2019t Say Who Won in 2020\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) speaks during a confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence on July 15, 2026 in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0(Photo by Aaron Schwartz\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cYou refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election, but you asked to lead America\u2019s intelligence community?\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jul 15, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sen. Jon Ossoff on Wednesday put President Donald Trump\u2019s nominee to be the next director of national intelligence on the spot by asking him about the results of the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Ossoff (D-Ga.) asked Jay Clayton, nominated by Trump to replace former DNI&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/tulsi-gabbard\">Tulsi Gabbard<\/a>, who won the 2020 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RECOMMENDED&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-doj-2026-midterms\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/voters-cast-their-ballots-at-south-oldham-middle-school-on-may-19-2026-in-crestwood-kentucky.jpg?id=66784109&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=170%2C0%2C171%2C0\" alt=\"'Humiliating String of Defeats' Threatens Trump's Plot to Rig 2026 Midterms: Election Expert\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-doj-2026-midterms\">\u2018Humiliating String of Defeats\u2019 Threatens Trump\u2019s Plot to Rig 2026 Midterms: Election Expert<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/marco-rubio-venezuela-viceroy\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/china-us-diplomacy.jpg?id=66746505&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=833%2C0%2C833%2C0\" alt=\"CHINA-US-DIPLOMACY\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/marco-rubio-venezuela-viceroy\">\u2018Unconscionable and Impeachable\u2019: Experts Appalled at Report of Marco Rubio Acting as Venezuela \u2018Viceroy\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going to do this with you,\u201d Clayton replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Ossoff asks Trump&#39;s Director of National Intelligence nominee who won the 2020 election. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J3u5mqHqTt\">pic.twitter.com\/J3u5mqHqTt<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Ossoff&#39;s Office (@SenOssoff) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenOssoff\/status\/2077448342188019848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 15, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is a job interview,\u201d Ossoff said. \u201cWe have established that you have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee, yes? You do have an obligation to honest and forthright with the committee?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d Clayton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWho won the 2020 election?\u201d Ossoff pressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLike I said, I\u2019m not going to get into that with you,\u201d Clayton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After former President&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/joe-biden\">Joe Biden<\/a>&nbsp;won the 2020 election, Trump refused to concede, told multiple lies to sow doubt about the results, tried to enlist officials including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and former Vice President&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/mike-pence\">Mike Pence<\/a>&nbsp;to illegally overturn it, and then incited a violent riot at the US Capitol when those efforts failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ossoff told Clayton that he would keep asking him about the 2020 election results because \u201cyou\u2019re not being honest and forthright with the committee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going to engage in the theater,\u201d Clayton shot back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After being pressed by Ossoff again, Clayton simply sat in silence, which appeared to make the Georgia Democrat incredulous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election,\u201d Ossoff said, \u201cbut you asked to lead America\u2019s intelligence community? Isn\u2019t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president\u2019s delusions?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe know, you know, everybody in this room knows the truthful answer to that question,\u201d Ossoff continued. \u201cWhy can you not give it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sean Vitka, executive director for Demand Progress,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/newswire\/jay-clayton-denies-objective-reality-at-trainwreck-hearing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>&nbsp;after the hearing that Clayton\u2019s refusal to answer Ossoff\u2019s question was disqualifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cClayton\u2019s trainwreck hearing showed us that he is willing to deny objective reality to avoid upsetting the president,\u201d Vitka said. \u201cSomeone like that must not be allowed to be the director of national intelligence, who wields vast power and must lead the intelligence community with nonpartisan integrity and independence from political pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vitka added that Democrats serving on congressional intelligence committees need to understand \u201cthe clear danger someone like Clayton would pose as Trump\u2019s point man on government surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Full Bio &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) speaks during a confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence on July 15, 2026 in Washington, DC. \u00a0(Photo by Aaron Schwartz\/Getty Images) \u201cYou refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election, but you asked to lead&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/isnt-it-humiliating-to-be-unable-to-answer-asks-ossoff-after-trump-spy-chief-nominee-wont-say-who-won-in-2020\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1879],"tags":[2206,2205],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49220,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49219\/revisions\/49220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}