House Intel Committee members accusing former DNI Clapper with ‘inconsistent testimony’ regarding media contact
(National Sentinel) Allegations: Members of the House Intelligence Committee have leveled accusations against Obama-era Director of National Intelligence James Clapper over “inconsistent testimony” regarding prior contacts with the media.
“Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, now a CNN national security analyst, provided inconsistent testimony to the Committee about his contacts with the media, including CNN,” reads one entry in a seven-page summary of findings from the committee’s Russia investigation, as reported by The Daily Caller.
The report, prepared by Republicans on the panel regarding the committee’s investigation into allegations of “collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia — a claim to which the panel has said it has found no evidence — also highlighted “problematic contacts between senior Intelligence Community officials and the media.”
Clapper was one of those senior officials.
Summary of findings from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
The DC reported that it isn’t clear what information Clapper may have exchanged with media outlets. However, he took part in a very significant meeting with President Donald J. Trump two weeks before his inauguration, in January 2017.
Clapper and three other top intelligence community figures — then-FBI Director James Comey, then-CIA Director John Brennan, and retiring National Security Agency chief Adm. Mike Rogers — discussed Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election.
At the meeting, Comey told Trump about the existence of the infamous “Russia dossier” that the Intelligence Committee said was later used as a legitimate intelligence document in order to get a surveillance warrant to spy on a Trump campaign member.
“The briefing took place and Trump was told about the dossier, CNN reported on Jan. 10, 2017. Hours later, BuzzFeed News published the dossier in full. Trump reportedly believes that the Comey briefing was a setup aimed at providing justification to release the dossier,” The DC reported.
Last week Clapper denied during a CNN interview that he had any contact at all with the media prior to leaving office on Jan. 20, 2017.
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“I didn’t have any contact with media until after I left the government on the 20th of January, so I don’t quite understand, at least what I’ve read, that somehow I leaked about the dossier,” said Clapper.
“So let me get — so you didn’t leak anything about the dossier to any media?” host Don Lemon asked.
“No, not — I mean, I talked about it after I left the government, but not during that period, and certainly not between the 6th of January and the 10th when the president-elect himself talked about it,” responded Clapper, adding, “So I don’t understand this, you know, I leaked it to CNN.”
Clapper has been in trouble before for lying — to Congress.
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