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James Clapper

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I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump Jr. campaign or someone in it was plotting/conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election, that's not to say that there weren't concerns about the evidence we were seeing, anecdotal evidence. ... But I do not recall any instance where I had direct evidence of the content of these meetings. It's just the frequency and prevalence of them was of concern.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 24 days ago Politics

I've come around to the position some months ago that perhaps as at least an initial plateau, in the interest of getting something done, it might be worth considering capping what North Korea have now and then maybe on a much longer term basis trying, you know, to get them to reduce their nuclear holdings to zero, which I think is going to be very difficult.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 11 months ago Politics

I wish people paid more attention to Volume I [of the Mueller report].

– James Clapper

Found on FOX News 1 year ago Politics

My read of the Mueller report is that there's a road map laid out there if the Congress chooses to follow it, i think the decision is whether to do that in the face of Republican resistance or opposition in the Senate, which is where a conviction has to happen, or let this play out through the 2020 election.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

Collusion and obstruction aside, the big deal to me is the magnitude of the Russian interference.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

No one can say( the Russians) didn't interfere, and, in fact, I think taint the election.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

I thought it was both stunning and scary, i was amazed at that and rather disappointed that the attorney general would say such a thing. The term' spying' has all kinds of negative connotations and I have to believe he chose that term deliberately.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Top News

The first objective of The Russians was to sow doubt, discord and discontent in this country, and they've succeeded to it fairly well -- capitalizing and exploiting the polarization and divisiveness in this country, secondarily, of course, was to do all they could to damage Hillary Clinton's candidacy and to help, when he became serious as Donald Trump, Donald Trump.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

Bill McRaven's a national hero, bill McRaven performance in orchestrating the actual attack was masterful, and I think the country owes Bill McRaven a great debt for Bill McRaven leadership and Bill McRaven lifetime of service.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Top News

What this really is is misplaced criticism of Bill McRaven.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Top News

I do want to just echo one thing that( former CIA Director) John Brennan said and that this is not going to silence the administration's critics.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

I think it would have been a lot more appropriate, a lot more sincere, had he actually named the targets and said something reassuring to them.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

I do want to just echo one thing that John Brennan said and that this is not going to silence the administration's critics.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

I think it is, i think John is sort of like a freight train, and he's going to say what's on his mind. I think, though, that the common denominator among all of us that have been speaking up, though, is a genuine concern about the jeopardy or threats to our institutions and values, and although we may express that in different ways. And I think that's what this really is about. But John and his rhetoric, I think, have become an issue in and of itself.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

I think it is, i think John Brennan is sort of like a freight train, and John Brennan's going to say what's on John Brennan mind. I think, though, that the common denominator among all of us that have been speaking up, though, is a genuine concern about the jeopardy or threats to our institutions and values, and although we may express that in different ways. And I think that's what this really is about. But John Brennan and John Brennan rhetoric, I think, have become an issue in and of itself.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

I find it very disturbing that here we were in compliance with a request of the then-President of the United States to put into one document our insight and knowledge of the profound threat that Russia posed to this country, and now, apparently, we're being punished for this. John( Brennan) already has been.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

It is an enemies list to get at people that have been critical or who have taken actions that, you know, he didn't like. That to me is a pretty chilling message.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

There is a very chilling message here to people in the intelligence community. If you tee up intelligence that the President doesn't like, you may risk losing your clearance and thereby your job.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

Will the republic stand or fall on whether John( John Brennan) retains his access to classified information ? Of course not. The larger issue here, to me, throughout has been infringement on First Amendment rights and I think people ought to think seriously about that.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Top News

I think that history is replete with examples of where there have been, shall I say, communication gaps between the White House and Pentagon.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

It's a particularly acute issue here with President Donald Trump, who I think as more time has elapsed in his tenure, feels more and more confident that, you know, he doesn't really need any advice from anybody and he's smarter than everybody else.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

Even Secretary Mattis, as dedicated as Secretary Mattis is to this country and particularly to the men and women of the armed forces that Secretary Mattis leads, even Secretary Mattis would at some point I think would have a tipping point if Secretary Mattis's completely cut out of things.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

I saw a Dennis Rodman that I have never seen before on the course of that interview, and you drew that out of him.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Top News

Cuomo Prime Time, i've long been an advocate of involving Dennis Rodman.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Politics

United States has no permanent enemies.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 1 year ago Top News

It wasn’t my place to do that, i was reporting to the then-government, the executive branch policymakers. But for me to pick up the phone and call a political candidate would not have been appropriate.

– James Clapper

Found on FOX News 2 years ago Latest Headlines

I prefer to remember Rusty Giuliani that way than the way Rusty Giuliani's conducting Rusty Giuliani now.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 2 years ago Top News

I support the letter that President Donald Trump sent to Kim Jong Un, I think it was a good thing to do.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 2 years ago Top News

I think there's value having gone this far, there's value in meeting and greeting, gripping and grinning, and just establishing a rapport. I think yes, it would be important to have the summit.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 2 years ago Top News

The parallelism between what the Donald Trump campaign was doing and saying and what the Russians were doing and saying was remarkably parallel, particularly when it came to attacks on Hillary Clinton, all Hillary Clinton alleged physical and mental maladies, and there was almost an echo chamber between the two.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 2 years ago Politics

No, they were not, they were spying on -- a term I don't particularly like -- but on what the Russians were doing. Trying to understand were the Russians infiltrating, trying to gain access, trying to gain leverage or influence which is what they do.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 2 years ago Politics

To me, it stretches logic and credulity to think that there was no impact.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 2 years ago Politics

That is kind of in my mind, and maybe I'm a traditionalist, violates a norm and standard of behavior that's long been abided by previous presidents and to me that's bothersome and I think another sign of some erosion of our institutions and our norms and standards.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 2 years ago Politics

No, they were not, they were spying, a term I don’t particularly like, on what the Russians were doing, trying to understand, were the Russians infiltrating?

– James Clapper

Found on FOX News 2 years ago Politics

I didn’t have any contact with media until after I left the government on the 20thof January.

– James Clapper

Found on FOX News 2 years ago Politics

It speaks well of him for picking a seasoned veteran of the agency who is widely and deeply respected by the workforce as well as those outside the agency, she has also been a strong proponent for integration, not only within CIA, but across the intelligence community.

– James Clapper

Found on FOX News 2 years ago Politics

I was told by senior officials to keep [Clapper] out of it.

– James Clapper

Found on FOX News 2 years ago Latest Headlines

This behavior and this divisiveness, intellectual and moral and ethical void that the president of the United States exhibits, and how much longer does the country — to borrow a phrase — endure this nightmare ? Trump’s remarks in Phoenix were reminiscent of candidate-Trump on the campaign trail, slamming the media over its coverage of his presidency — specifically noting his response to recent violence in Charlottesville, Va.

– James Clapper

Found on FOX News 2 years ago Politics

I don’t know when I’ve listened and watched something like this from a president that I’ve found more disturbing.

– James Clapper

Found on FOX News 2 years ago Politics

I think in many ways our institutions are under assault both externally -- and that's the big news here is the Russian interference in our election system -- and I think as well our institutions are under assault internally.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 3 years ago Top News

You could rationalize that it helps the Russians by obfuscating who was actually responsible.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 3 years ago Top News

They must be congratulating themselves for having exceeded their wildest expectations, they are now emboldened to continue such activities in the future, both here and around the world, and to do so even more intensely.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 3 years ago Top News

During my tenure as DNI, it was my practice to defer to the FBI director -- both (former FBI) Director (Robert) Mueller and Director Comey -- on whether, when, and to what extent they would inform me about such investigations.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 3 years ago Top News

I can deny it.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 3 years ago Politics

For the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw as DNI, there was no wiretap activity mounted against the President-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 3 years ago Top News

There's no question this is going to set back and make more difficult cooperation with the Turks.

– James Clapper

Found on Reuters 3 years ago Top News

Our most important resource is our people, the compromises, decisions we've made, and then the budget reductions occasioned by sequestration or sequestration-like reductions is – the cumulative effect of all this is what I worry about and the reduction in our capacity. It's not as great as it was, say, a year or two ago. And if we continue, you know, these cuts, it will continue to have a negative impact.

– James Clapper

Found on FOX News 4 years ago Politics

Based on the pace and scope of construction at these outposts, China will be able to deploy a range of offensive and defensive military capabilities and support increased PLAN and CCG presence beginning in 2016, once these facilities are completed by the end of 2016 or early 2017, China will have significant capacity to quickly project substantial offensive military power to the region.

– James Clapper

Found on Reuters 4 years ago Industrials

We assess that North Korea has followed through on its announcement by expanding its Yongbyon enrichment facility and restarting the plutonium production reactor, we further assess that North Korea has been operating the reactor long enough so that it could begin to recover plutonium from the reactor’s spent fuel within a matter of weeks to months.

– James Clapper

Found on Reuters 4 years ago World

We further assess that North Korea has been operating the reactor long enough so that it could begin to recover plutonium from the reactor’s spent fuel within a matter of weeks to months.

– James Clapper

Found on Reuters 4 years ago World

Well some of it, to be honest, is misinformed or uninformed, i have to believe though that whoever is elected president, which has to be a very, very sobering realization, that some of that rhetoric would be tempered.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 4 years ago Politics

Such malicious cyber activity will continue and probably accelerate until we establish and demonstrate the capability to deter malicious state-sponsored cyber activity.

– James Clapper

Found on Reuters 4 years ago Technology

The day after [Greenwald] wrote about it, the program was shut down by the government of Afghanistan, which was the single most important source of force protection and warning for our people in Afghanistan.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 4 years ago Politics

Terrorists particularly have gone to school on the revelations caused by Snowden.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 4 years ago Politics

They've been funded anyway even with the sanctions regime, so I'm sure they'll get some money but I don't think it'll be a huge windfall for them.

– James Clapper

Found on Reuters 4 years ago Energy

They’ve been funded anyway even with the sanctions regime, so I’m sure they’ll get some money but I don’t think it’ll be a huge windfall for them.

– James Clapper

Found on Reuters 4 years ago World

So many times, the Chinese and others get access to our systems just by pretending to be someone else and then asking for access, and someone gives it to them.

– James Clapper

Found on CNN 5 years ago Top News

There are, in addition to ISIL, probably six or eight other terrorist groups that have gathered in Libya. So it's a magnet because, essentially, it's ungoverned.

– James Clapper

Found on FOX News 5 years ago Politics