Last week, I reported in The Gateway Pundit on the surprising public endorsement New York Attorney General Letitia James gave to President Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence, Jay Clayton.
During an MSNBC interview, James criticized Acting DNI Bill Pulte and expressed support for Clayton, describing him as a respected legal professional. For many in the MAGA movement, the praise immediately raised eyebrows.
Why would one of President Trump’s most aggressive political and legal adversaries be publicly praising one of his nominees? Now another piece of the puzzle has emerged.
It turns out James didn’t merely praise Clayton on national television. She also sent him a formal three-page letter personally thanking him for his “leadership.”
On May 5, 2025, while Clayton was serving as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James wrote directly to him regarding the Justice Department’s intervention in Lost Lake Holdings, LLC v. Town of Forestburgh.
In the letter, James praised Clayton’s office for filing a Statement of Interest supporting the plaintiffs in the Fair Housing Act case.
“I commend your office for making clear… that the federal government will not stand by when such rights are infringed,” James wrote.
She concluded the three-page letter by thanking Clayton personally:
“Thank you for your leadership and for your commitment to justice in this important case.”
The correspondence was subsequently reported by the Times Union, which noted that James reached out to Clayton’s office specifically to commend the federal government’s intervention in the case.
By itself, there is nothing improper about one government official praising another over a legal matter.
But viewed together with James’s later public comments supporting Clayton’s DNI nomination, the documented record shows that this was not an isolated compliment. James has now praised Clayton in both a formal official letter and on national television.
Given Letitia James’s history of false prosecutions against President Trump, that documented history naturally raises serious concerns among Trump supporters.
The Bigger Concern Isn’t One Letter
The concern for many conservatives goes beyond this single letter. Jay Clayton’s résumé is the résumé of a quintessential institutional lawyer. He spent decades at Sullivan & Cromwell, one of New York City’s most prestigious law firms. He later chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission. He then became U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Throughout his career, Clayton has occupied positions at the highest levels of New York’s legal and financial establishment.
Supporters of President Trump have spent years arguing that many of America’s most powerful institutions – including portions of the intelligence community, federal law enforcement, Wall Street, elite law firms, and state prosecutors – operate within the same interconnected establishment culture.
This may help explain James’s repeated praise of Jay Clayton. The issue is not whether Clayton acted appropriately in the Forestburgh case. The issue is whether his long career inside elite legal institutions reflects the type of leadership many Trump voters believe is needed to reform those same institutions.
Important Questions for the Confirmation Process
President Trump clearly believes Clayton is qualified to serve as Director of National Intelligence, praising his legal ability and urging the Senate to confirm him quickly.
But was President Trump aware of Letitia James’s relationship and comfort with this nominee?
How independent is Clayton from the legal and political establishment in which he has spent nearly his entire professional life?
How does Clayton view the intelligence bureaucracy? Does he believe meaningful institutional reform is necessary?
These are all legitimate questions for any nominee to one of the nation’s most sensitive national security positions.
Trump supporters have watched Letitia James pursue legal action against the President for years.
When that same public official repeatedly expresses confidence in one of his nominees, many naturally want to understand why. The documented record now includes both James’s MSNBC comments and her formal written commendation of Clayton’s leadership.
That does not answer every question. It does, however, make those questions worthy of asking.
As the Senate considers Clayton’s nomination to lead America’s intelligence community, one issue may ultimately matter more than his impressive résumé. Clayton must convince skeptical conservatives that he is prepared not merely to manage America’s institutions – but, why an unethical pubic official like Letita James is so comfortable with him serving as Director of National Intelligence.
Joel Gilbert is a Los Angeles-based film producer and president of Highway 61 Entertainment. He is the producer of the new film Roseanne Barr Is America. He is also the producer of: Dreams from My Real Father, The Trayvon Hoax, Trump: The Art of the Insult, and many other films on American politics and music icons. Gilbert is on Twitter: @JoelSGilbert.
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