Trump drops plan to name intelligence analysts after White House intervention

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump, in his prime-time speech, was all set to name officials involved in hiding “election interference” from the president, but before things would go out of hand, the Acting Director of the Intelligence Agency, Bill Pulte, pulled back.

In his prime-time speech on Thursday, July 16, President Trump cast doubts on the integrity and fairness of the election system and claimed that foreign players influenced the 2020 general elections.

White House warn against naming intelligence analysts

President Trump backed down from naming intelligence analysts, who had been accused of concealing election fraud from the president at the last moment, after White House officials urged DNI director Bill Pulte to rethink the plan to name them.

White House officials argued that naming intelligence analysts could put people in danger and prompt “conspiracy theorists to take the law into their own hands.”

Pulte’s push to name names sent senior officials in the White House “scrambling,” Politico reported on Saturday, July 18, quoting sources.

“Pulte got really scared by the whole thing and pulled back,” said one of the two senior officials, as per the outlet.

“He got POTUS all spun up and then was incredibly scared when he realized people could die with his reckless behavior.”

Several Trump administration officials also urged the president to stick to the script and avoid going off message, a challenge for aides who often don't know what Trump plans to say until he says it.

“They explained the way to be taken seriously is not to be crazy,” the senior official told the outlet.

Trump claims election interference in his speech

During the speech, Trump claimed his administration had uncovered "burn bags" from former President Barack Obama's administration and called for a criminal investigation into what he described as a possible "cover-up."

He also accused foreign countries, including China, of trying to interfere in US elections, but did not present evidence that any votes were changed as a result.

The combination of a full-court press from some aides and Pulte’s retreat convinced the president to stay “on the rails” as the senior official put it.

“President Trump and millions of Americans agree that we must have integrity in our elections, otherwise we have no country at all,” said Davis Ingle, a White House spokesperson. “Congress should immediately pass the SAVE America Act.”