Gene Rossi was quoted in a Newsweek article titled “Trump’s Intel Pick Jay Clayton Sows Doubt Over Biden’s 2020 Election Win.” Clayton, whom President Donald Trump nominated to serve as director of national intelligence, drew pushback from senators after declining to say former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Rossi stated that Clayton “had to give” this answer due to Trump’s planned speech on election security but that the potential DNI should not be “succumbing to politics or political pressure.”

“Mr. Clayton had to refuse to give the answer about whether the election was stolen in 2020 because if he said it was not, then he is pulling the rug out from the reason President Trump allegedly is going to give his address to the nation tomorrow night,” he said.

As DNI, Clayton would have access to any top-secret, classified information about any alleged election interference, Rossi said. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice could investigate any disclosure of classified information about alleged election fraud if it is within the statute of limitations.

Read the article.

©2026 Carlton Fields, P.A. Carlton Fields practices law in California through Carlton Fields, LLP. Carlton Fields publications should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general information and educational purposes only, and should not be relied on as if it were advice about a particular fact situation. The distribution of this publication is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship with Carlton Fields. This publication may not be quoted or referred to in any other publication or proceeding without the prior written consent of the firm, to be given or withheld at our discretion. To request reprint permission for any of our publications, please use our Contact Us form via the link below. The views set forth herein are the personal views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the firm. This site may contain hypertext links to information created and maintained by other entities. Carlton Fields does not control or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this outside information, nor is the inclusion of a link to be intended as an endorsement of those outside sites.

Related People

Media Contact

Jump to Page

Carlton Fields, P.A. Cookie Preference Center

Your Privacy

When you visit our website, we use cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. For more information about how we use Cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Always Active

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. These cookies may only be disabled by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Functional Cookies

Always Active

Some functions of the site require remembering user choices, for example your cookie preference, or keyword search highlighting. These do not store any personal information.

Form Submissions

Always Active

When submitting your data, for example on a contact form or event registration, a cookie might be used to monitor the state of your submission across pages.

Performance Cookies

Performance cookies help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage. We access and process information from these cookies at an aggregate level.

Powered by Firmseek