James Clapper Quotes

James Robert Clapper Jr. is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Air Force and is the former Director of National Intelligence. Clapper has held several key positions within the United States Intelligence Community. He served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1992 until 1995. He was the first director of defense intelligence within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and simultaneously the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. He served as the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency from September 2001 until June 2006.

On June 5, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Clapper to replace Dennis C. Blair as United States Director of National Intelligence. Clapper was unanimously confirmed by the Senate for the position on August 5, 2010.

Following the June 2013 leak of documents detailing the NSA practice of collecting telephone metadata on millions of Americans' telephone calls, Clapper was accused of perjury for telling a congressional committee hearing that the NSA does not collect any type of data on millions of Americans earlier that year. One senator asked for his resignation, and a group of 26 senators complained about Clapper's responses under questioning. In November 2016, Clapper resigned as director of national intelligence, effective at the end of President Obama's term. In May 2017, he joined the Washington, D.C.–based think tank the Center for a New American Security as a Distinguished Senior Fellow for Intelligence and National Security. Wikipedia  

✵ 14. March 1941
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James Clapper: 11   quotes 0   likes

Famous James Clapper Quotes

“There was no involvement between the Trump campaign and the Russians (variously quoted)”

variously quoted The full statement made by Clapper in testimony before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee was "During my tenure as DNI, it was my practice to defer to the FBI director, both Director Mueller and then subsequently Director Comey, on whether, when and to what extent they would inform me about such investigations. This stems from the unique position of the FBI, which straddles both intelligence and law enforcement. And as a consequence, I was not aware of the counterintelligence investigation Director Comey first referred to during his testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee for Intelligence on the 20th of March, and that comports with my public statements." [Mast, Nina, Parroting Trump, Right-Wing Media Figures Misrepresent Clapper’s Statements About Trump-Russia Collusion,
https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/05/09/parroting-trump-right-wing-media-figures-misrepresent-clapper-s-statements-about-trump-russia/216353, Media Matters, 27 July 2018]
Misattributed

“I went on to say that 'I hoped he would abide by the long-standing principle of the [intelligence community] always telling 'truth to power.”

Describing a letter to Donald Trump following the 2016 US presidential election, quoted in [de Moraes, Lisa, James Clapper Reveals Contents Of Letter To Donald Trump About Which POTUS Nastily Tweeted, https://deadline.com/2017/08/james-clapper-donald-trump-beautiful-letter-cnn-tweet-1202155778/, 27 July 2018, Deadline Hollywood, August 24, 2017]

“Russia's aim wasn't to get anyone to actually believe the crazy stories they were publishing…The point of their influence operation was to overwhelm facts, to sow doubt that facts were even knowable.”

Excerpt from Clapper's memoir Facts And Fears, quoted in [In 'Facts And Fears,' Ex-Spy Boss Clapper Comes In From The Cold, Badly Chilled, https://www.npr.org/2018/05/22/613107871/in-facts-and-fears-ex-spy-boss-clapper-comes-in-from-the-cold-badly-chilled, 27 July 2018, National Public Radio, May 22, 2018]

“Among those [Syrian] refugees are no doubt a significant number of ISIS terrorists.”

Misquoted by Ted Cruz. According to the source, "Clapper said it was a “huge concern” that ISIS could try to infiltrate the refugees. Clapper also expressed confidence in the United States’ ability to screen refugee applicants."
Misattributed
Source: [Farley, Robert, Cruz Misquotes Clapper on Refugees, https://www.factcheck.org/2015/10/cruz-misquotes-clapper-on-refugees/, factcheck.org, 27 July 2018]

“You have to remember Putin's background. He's a KGB officer. That's what they do. They recruit assets.”

From an interview on CNN, quoted in [Sheth, Sonam, Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper: Putin is handling Trump like a Russian 'asset', https://www.businessinsider.com/james-clapper-putin-trump-russia-asset-2017-12, 27 July 2018, Business Insider, December 19, 2017]

James Clapper Quotes

“Of course, the Russian effort affected the outcome. Surprising even themselves, they swung the election to a Trump win. To conclude otherwise stretches logic, common sense, and credulity to the breaking point.”

Excerpt from Clapper's memoir Facts And Fears, quoted in [Hains, Tim, James Clapper in New Book: "Of Course" The Russians "Swung The Election To A Trump Win", https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/05/23/james_clapper_in_new_book_of_course_the_russians_swung_the_election_to_a_trump_win.html, 27 July 2018, Real Clear Politics, May 23, 2018]

“Trump should be happy that the FBI was SPYING on his campaign”

Misquoted in a tweet by Donald Trump, of an interview Clapper gave on the television show The View
[Qiu, Linda, Trump Incorrectly Quotes James Clapper to Falsely Claim F.B.I. Spied on Campaign, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/23/us/politics/fact-check-trump-clapper-campaign-spy.html, 27 July 2018, The New York Times]
Misattributed

“Looking at the recording of that interview, I again appeared tired. This time, I wasn't tired from working around the clock for months on end. I was tired because my journey of 76 years had led me to a place that should be home, and I'd found that the foundation of that home was beginning to crumble and the pillars that supported its roof were shaking.”

Excerpt from Clapper's memoir Facts And Fears, in reference to a video of himself on a talk show prior to the release of the book, quoted in [In 'Facts And Fears,' Ex-Spy Boss Clapper Comes In From The Cold, Badly Chilled, https://www.npr.org/2018/05/22/613107871/in-facts-and-fears-ex-spy-boss-clapper-comes-in-from-the-cold-badly-chilled, 27 July 2018, National Public Radio, May 22, 2018]

“The Founding Fathers, in their genius, created three co-equal branches of government, and a built-in system of checks and balances, and I feel as though that is under assault, and is eroding.”

Quoted in [Bevan, Tom, James Clapper's Assault on Democracy, https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/05/16/james_clappers_assault_on_democracy_133897.html, 27 July 2018, Real Clear Politics, May 16, 2017]

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