Trump’s New Intel Chief Launches Firing Purge as He Takes Over

President Donald Trump’s acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte has wasted no time before purging staff members from his new office. Pulte, a housing regulator with no experience working in intelligence, has already begun implementing sweeping personnel changes in the intelligence community. “The deep state firings have begun,” a source familiar with the matter told NBC News. Pulte formally assumed his new post on Friday, and the firings reportedly began Monday. These are significant changes made by a temporary lackey. Pulte has none of the military or intelligence background necessary to lead ODNI, and has instead made a name for himself by targeting the president’s political enemies while leading the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The day before Pulte even started at his new post, he directed ODNI staff members to identify 400 employees to be fired from the National Counterterrorism Center in the coming weeks, another source told NBC News. The agency was previously headed by Joe Kent, who abruptly resigned earlier this year in opposition to Trump’s war in Iran. CNN reported that Pulte had requested a list of every employee at ODNI so he could determine who to purge. Earlier this month, Trump selected Pulte’s permanent replacement: Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York responsible for the shoddy redactions in the government’s files on Jeffrey Epstein. But the president upended Clayton’s Senate confirmation hearing, blowing up his party’s chance at renewing a key spy power.