An empty Senate Intelligence Committee room summed up the mood Wednesday afternoon during what was supposed to be an easy step in Majority Leader John Thune’s plan to revive a lapsed surveillance authority.
Instead, the key spy powers tool, the committee room and senators themselves were left in the dark after President Donald Trump directed the hearing’s witness — Jay Clayton, his pick to be director of national intelligence — not to appear.
“I have never seen anything quite like this,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the longest-serving member of the intelligence panel, told reporters earlier that day.
As the hearing’s scheduled 2 p.m. start time neared, not everyone had gotten the memo it was canceled. A handful of spectators sat in the public viewing chairs until about 15 minutes before, when a committee aide informed them the hearing wasn’t happening. By 2 p.m., the room was nearly empty.
“I mean, Jay Clayton was on the brink of having a very good hearing and probably even getting some Democrat support,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who is retiring at the end of this term. “And now we’re in a posture to where it may be the reason why 702 doesn’t get reauthorized.”
