DNI Candidate Refuses to Answer 2020 Election Questions
Director of National Intelligence candidate Jay Clayton declined to answer Sen. Jon Ossoff’s question about who won the 2020 election.
Georgia’s elections are once again in the spotlight ahead of what could be an explosive speech from the White House by Georgia’s two Democratic senators.
President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he would “address the nation” on Thursday at 9pm ET, but did not specify the content of the speech.
“The truth is, no one knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say, which is why everyone should pay attention,” Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said when asked to preview what she would say. Leavitt will return to the press secretary’s podium Thursday at 1 p.m. after maternity leave.
Speculation about what President Trump plans to announce is rampant, with rumors and anonymous sources saying it ranges from Iran to the SAVE Act to Chinese election interference. One news outlet even speculated that Trump could call into question the legitimacy of his Georgia Senate seat.
Georgia’s two senators, Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, appear to be heading into the speech with their own messages about the 2020 Georgia elections.
Ossoff is running for re-election in a key race against Rep. Mike Collins, an ardent Trump supporter and longtime election denier who as recently as June said Trump won Georgia’s 2020 election.
Both Mr. Ossoff and Mr. Warnock have been outspoken in the wake of the federal raid on a Fulton County election site earlier this year, which Mr. Warnock claimed was an “excuse” to disrupt the upcoming midterm elections.
Here’s what they said about the integrity of Georgia’s elections leading up to Trump’s speech.
Ossoff goes on the offensive.
Ossoff, who is running for re-election this term, has gone on the offensive, insisting Georgia’s elections were free and fair, and Trump’s “obsession” with the state stems from anger at black voters who opposed him.
“Donald Trump’s spiral continues. The ousted president, who has made billions of dollars by gouging prices, is afraid of losing the midterm elections, so he will rehash debunked election conspiracy theories, tell new bizarre lies, deny his 2020 defeat, and attack voting rights,” Ossoff said in a statement late Monday.
He also said it would be a “disaster” for Mr Collins, who would be forced to “double down” on a conspiracy that was not well received in the general election.
“From the beginning, Mr. Trump’s obsession with the Georgia election exposed his anger that black voters contributed to his loss,” Ossoff said. “I am asking concerned citizens across the country to join me in supporting our voter protection efforts in Georgia.”
In an appearance on “The Briefing with Jen Psaki” earlier this week, Ossoff himself acknowledged the rumors surrounding Trump’s comments, saying, “Obviously the president doesn’t have the authority[to declare me and Raphael Warnock illegitimate senators]but he does have the authority to try to intimidate people. It shows a willingness to abuse power.”
He also said that whatever President Trump says Thursday night will be a “pretext” to use federal power and resources to “interfere with elections and cover his agents and allies in state and local government for anything they may try.”
Ossoff said Trump is a “real, real threat to voting rights.”
The first-term senator, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, questioned Jay Clayton during Wednesday’s nomination hearing to take over as director of national intelligence following the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard.
During the hearing, Ossoff asked Creighton who won the 2020 election. Mr. Creighton did not say that Biden won the election, but Mr. Ossoff asked Mr. Clayton if it was “humiliating” not to be able to answer questions. He also asked Creighton if she knew Gabbard was present during the FBI raid in Georgia, to which Creighton replied that she was “informed” of that in a meeting with Ossoff the day before. Gabbard, as director of national intelligence, had no clear role during the raid, and many wondered whether her presence meant the Trump administration was advocating international interference.
Warnock says Trump is trying to ’tilt the playing field in his favor’
Sen. Warnock, a leader in the modern civil rights movement and a senator not up for re-election this term, said President Trump is looking for ways to interfere in the midterm elections starting in February.
A month after the Fulton election attack, in a spotlight hearing with Fulton County Commissioner Mo Ivory, Warnock said the actions were part of an effort to “rig the rules for the 2026 midterm elections,” setting the stage for President Trump to question Georgia’s results if the midterm elections don’t go his way. He said a “pretext for intervention” was the clear motive for the attack.
Following Warnock’s February remarks, White House press secretary Abigail Jackson told USA TODAY in a statement: “President Trump is committed to ensuring that the American people have full confidence in our election administration. That includes a completely accurate and up-to-date voter rolls, free of errors and illegally registered non-citizen voters.”
Mr. Warnock has not recanted the accusations, and in a series of posts on X this week, he renewed his accusations that Mr. Trump was sowing doubts about the Georgia election to help Republican candidates win.
“Donald Trump is already trying to redraw the maps and change the rules of elections to tilt the playing field in his favor. When he can’t win by the rules, he tries to change the rules,” Warnock wrote in one post.
“The President can spend every day of 2020 relitigating if he wants. I will spend every day doing the job the people of Georgia elected me to do,” he said in another article. The post comes after President Trump refused to sign the 21st Century Housing Act, making Warnock’s ban on private equity buying single-family homes into federal law.
And Warnock said at the end of the day that President Trump’s focus on both the 2020 election and Georgia is not about the results from six years ago. “That would be around 2026,” Warnock said.
“Donald Trump lost Georgia in 2020. That’s not my opinion, that’s a fact. Votes were counted, recounted, audited, and sued. He lost, lost, and lost. But this isn’t really about 2020,” Warnock said. “He is trying to sow doubts about the integrity of elections in Georgia in order to create an excuse to interfere in 2026.”
Eileen Wright covers Georgia politics and elections as an Atlanta Connect reporter for USA TODAY’s Deep South Connect team. X Find her at @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
