{"text":[[{"start":10,"text":"Donald Trump has picked housing regulator Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, angering Democrats and baffling some Republicans by installing an ally with no known national security experience to the post."}],[{"start":23.45,"text":"Pulte will take over from Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned from the role last month. A former Democratic Party member, Gabbard had been a controversial pick to lead the nation’s spy agencies. She was also a longtime critic of US interventions in overseas conflicts."}],[{"start":39.4,"text":"Trump’s move to tap Pulte as acting director failed to reassure lawmakers in both parties that the president would appoint a more conventional official to oversee America’s intelligence agencies."}],[{"start":51,"text":"The appointment also amplified concerns that Trump is prizing loyalty over experience for the role, which was created in the aftermath of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks."}],[{"start":62.45,"text":"“Rather than selecting a respected national security professional capable of delivering independent judgments, the president has chosen an official who has demonstrated not just willingness but eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution,” Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said on Tuesday. "}],[{"start":83.2,"text":"“That is how intelligence becomes politicised, how inconvenient facts disappear, how agencies charged with protecting our democracy instead become tools to manipulate it, and how Americans are left more vulnerable to a terrorist attack,” Warner added."}],[{"start":98.2,"text":"Tom Cotton, the Republican senator from Arkansas who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, told reporters that he was looking forward to four more weeks with Gabbard as director, since her resignation takes effect at the end of the month. But when asked about Pulte’s appointment, he responded tersely: “I have no observations on the matter.”"}],[{"start":117.6,"text":"In his role as Federal Housing Finance Agency director, Pulte had appointed himself the chair of US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "}],[{"start":126.25,"text":"He previously worked at the PulteGroup, the third-largest US housebuilder, which was founded by his grandfather."}],[{"start":133.15,"text":"Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that Pulte, who does not have a national security background, had “deep experience managing the sensitive matters in America” and that in the interim he would remain director of the FHFA and chair of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "}],[{"start":149.8,"text":"Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council at the White House, defended the selection, saying Pulte was “a terrific guy, very careful person, very much in the details of things, trusted by the president”."}],[{"start":163.4,"text":"During his tenure as the Trump administration’s housing finance director, Pulte has spearheaded a high-profile probe into Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor nominated to the role by former Democratic president Joe Biden, alleging that she engaged in mortgage fraud. Cook has denied the allegations. "}],[{"start":182.75,"text":"Since the investigation was launched, Trump has attempted to fire Cook but federal courts have blocked the president’s efforts and she has remained at the Fed. Her case is pending before the Supreme Court. "}],[{"start":192.95,"text":"Last year Pulte also stoked controversy when he pitched a plan for a 50-year mortgage to Trump, which the president initially embraced before it was ditched amid a widespread backlash."}],[{"start":204.64999999999998,"text":"But while Pulte, a significant Trump donor during the 2024 White House campaign, has remained close to the president, he has clashed with other members of the administration at times, including Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary. "}],[{"start":218.49999999999997,"text":"As acting director of national intelligence, Pulte will only be able to serve in the post for up to 210 days unless Trump formally nominates him for the job and he is confirmed by the Senate."}],[{"start":230.94999999999996,"text":"John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman, is serving as director of the CIA, and has played a more prominent role than Gabbard in the discussions within the administration over the Iran war and the relationship with Venezuela following the military raid that led to the capture of strongman former leader Nicolás Maduro. "}],[{"start":249.59999999999997,"text":"Additional reporting by Lauren Fedor"}],[{"start":259.59999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780458770_5031.mp3"}