Clapper - "No evidence of collusion with Russia"

 

"CHUCK TODD:

Well, that's an important revelation at this point. Let me ask you this. Does intelligence exist that can definitively answer the following question, whether there were improper contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials?

JAMES CLAPPER:

We did not include any evidence in our report, and I say, "our," that's N.S.A., F.B.I. and C.I.A., with my office, the Director of National Intelligence, that had anything, that had any reflection of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. There was no evidence of that included in our report.

CHUCK TODD:

I understand that. But does it exist?

JAMES CLAPPER:

Not to my knowledge.

CHUCK TODD:

If it existed, it would have been in this report?

JAMES CLAPPER:

This could have unfolded or become available in the time since I left the government."  Meet the Press 5 March 2017

------------------

 You all probably know that I am not a big fan of the perjured former Director of National Intelligence, but this is interesting.  Earlier in this interview Clapper says that there was no FISA court approval of a warrant to intercept Trump campaign communications.  This contradicts other rumor/reporting that there were two attempts last year to obtain such a warrant.  The first of these failed and the second was supposedly approved.  Remember! A FISA court warrant IS NOT a warrant in  a criminal investigation.  A FISA court warrant is a permission to intercept communications in a suspected espionage or terrorism case.  It is a vacuum cleaner that seeks information useful to intelligence analysis without regard to the admissibility of such information in a federal court.

In this quoted section of the MTP interview Clapper, who always seeks to cover his hindquarters, throws the Left's case for Russian/Trumpian collusion in the election "under the bus."  pl 

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-03-05-17-n729271

Comments

[Tyler]

I thought it was interesting watching the Borg nod sagely and stroke their chin as known perjurer Clapper talked.

[Eric Newhill]

Sir,
Nice! Though, indeed, one must wonder how Clapper arrived at his de facto exoneration of Trump w/o the "wire taps" (SIGINT). Trump will now proclaim that Clapper fully "exonerated" him. My conclusion, stupid hysterical lefties attempting a coup of lawfully elected POTUS w/ stupid Russia phobia claims. Obama and Clinton +other assorted Borg behind it. Went SIGINT fishing Trump in Nixon Watergate like fashion (just as Trump has stated)hoping to find dirt and came up w/ nothing. Hysterical lefties, perennially and pathologically doomed to never realizing when the jig is up, continue misinformed paranoid "resistance" at places like "Daily Kos" and even on MSM outlets and are all about to be made to look even stupider by Trump, who just keeps on winning. As Trump proves himself to not even remotely resemble "Hitler" and as America becomes greater, moderate Democrats will have had enough of their crazy kin and will move into the Trumpist Republican camp. Even some MSM will tire of always being wrong about Trump and over the next six months will become increasingly circumspect in Trump related reporting. The Democrats self-destruction will be complete.

[Pat Shields]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/trump-russia-associates-investigation.html?_r=0

Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry Into Trump Associates
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, MATTHEW ROSENBERG, ADAM GOLDMAN and MATT APUZZO. JAN. 19, 2017

...The continuing counterintelligence investigation means that Mr. Trump will take the oath of office on Friday with his associates under investigation and after the intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government had worked to help elect him. As president, Mr. Trump will oversee those agencies and have the authority to redirect or stop at least some of these efforts.

The F.B.I. is leading the investigations, aided by the National Security Agency, the C.I.A. and the Treasury Department’s financial crimes unit. The investigators have accelerated their efforts in recent weeks but have found no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing, the officials said. One official said intelligence reports based on some of the wiretapped communications had been provided to the White House...

[yogadoggy]

Michael Hayden speculates on the reason for Trump's unsupported Tweets of Saturday morning:

“Let me go very, very dark on you,” Hayden intoned. “The President of the United States put his own reputation, the reputation of his predecessor, and the reputation of his nation at risk to get at least a draw out of the next 24 hours of news.”

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/let-me-go-very-very-dark-on-you-michael-hayden-speculates-about-trump-wiretapping-claims/

[Old Microbiologist]

Also, any material not having anything to do with the warrant request, like campaign stuff, must be destroyed immediately. As I understand it the first FISA request was refused as it had Trump's name listed. This was following an earlier request through normal courts which was also denied for lack of probable cause. If a second FISA request was submitted then the affidavit must be perjured as there is no imminent threat to the US which is what the basis of the FISA court is supposed to be used for. Assuming it is thru that the 1st FISA was rejected than that was only the 12th time in the history of the court a request was denied. That is saying something very significant about how the 1st FISA warrant request smelled. IMHO there is some meat here and there is some very high probability that something very irregular occurred and it very likely was originated by Lynch meaning Obama must have known about it. If the Sessions material which was leaked (and should have been destroyed) came from this FISA approved warrant then it is very likely a scandal which makes Watergate pale in comparison. We just might see the first ex-President go to prison along with some of his cronies. My advice to Trump, if he is listening at all, is to get Trey Gaudy appointed as a special investigator. Then we just might begin to unravel some of this very bizarre conspiracy. Icing on the cake would be simultaneous arrests for the pedophilia ring in DC rumored to be imminent. If any of this is true it means the death of the Democratic party.

[William R. Cumming]

Thanks for these comments in your post! I was an informal adviser to Mary Lawton, Esq. who acted as the FISA court before there was a FISA. She was at DoJ/OLC and had long recognized that a FISA was needed as did I. Often labeled part of the so-called CHURCH REFORMS in reality the need was a long recognized one in DoJ.

But because almost nobody has a grip on classification standards and issues and policy no one person in or out of government can say with certainty that any given reality is true or false. First, we should be told who briefed the President on security issues, including document security, personnel security, and COMSEC! Under 28 U.S. C. section 385, (285?) the President if he believed what he tweeted had a statutory duty to not tweet and refer the matter to DoJ/FBI for action.

The President clearly does not understand his statutory duty? IMO the tweet was correct and information on the Trump campaign and its participants was collected but never analyzed by at least some of the 17 members of the IC.

As always could be wrong!

[William R. Cumming]

IMO General Clapper has no idea if there was "collusion" between the Trump Campaign and the Russian leadership and those in Russian government circles and is not qualified to make that assessment now or formerly!

[Edward Amame]

Would Clapper know about a wiretap warrant that might be part of an FBI criminal investigation?

[Edward Amame]

Also, Clapper said, "there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign." There was reported surveillance of Russians however, and that is how Flynn got popped.

[Dr.Puck]

Fortunately, the President can pick up the phone, or be driven over to make the request in person, and, ask Comey and Kelly to produce the FISA warrants and any other related materials.

I suspect he will do this afternoon and fire a cruise missile into the deep state by dinnertime.

[Cvillereader]

William Binney has recently stated that the surveillance was most likely done through the NSA and without any warrant at all. So perhaps Clapper was actually telling the truth.

[J]

Soooooo.......what's this bidnezz about Comey begging DOJ to pull Comey's arse out of the fire and dis the POTUS's contention that Trump Towers was tapped?

Why doesn't POTUS Trump tell Comey to sit his Director behind down and shut the heck up (since Comey's BOSS IS the POTUS)?

Why didn't Trump replace Comey to begin with? Like with a 'real' FBI Agent as Director, not a political hack like Comey?

[sfhand]

Col Lang,
I have read this site for many years and I have always been fascinated with your take on things even when I don't agree with you politically. In this particular instance I am with you 100% about Clapper. I do, however, take exception to your notion about the "Left". IMO, there is no "Left" in the US. There is a collection of neoliberal Corporate Stooges masquerading as "progressives" and "liberals", but they do not constitute the left by any classical interpretation of the left. So I post in defense of the real Left and plead with you to not refer to the current crop of self-serving charlatans found in both the media and government as the "Left".

[Fred]

WRC,

"the President if he believed what he tweeted had a statutory duty to not tweet and refer the matter to DoJ/FBI for action."

Really? That sounds like a get out of jail free card for those who are subverting the constitutionally elected president. Perhaps what would please many would be a "Committee on the Conduct of the Executive Branch of Government" much like the committee that Lincoln and Johnson had to suffer with.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress_Joint_Committee_on_the_Conduct_of_the_War

[Jill]

Please forgive my naivete and/or ignorance but ... Does the President not have the authority and means to discover if the FISA court issued such a warrant and which, if any, lines were surveiled?

[confusedponderer]

I have (had to) spend the last year by and large in hospitals after having been run over by a car last january. In terms of harm I have been rather lucky in that misfortune and recovered rather well so far. Thank God.

I will spend some of my recovered time reading this blog again. A happy March to everybody.

[turcopolier]

confusedponderer

We are so happy to have you back with us. We feared that you were gone for good. pl

[Joe100]

Hope you will soon have a full recovery. I have missed your posts!

[turcopolier]

Jill

The president certainly has that authority. pl

[turcopolier]

Cvillereader

I am told that Clapper and Brennan avoided relying on a FISA warrant by going to the British equivalent of NSA (GCHQ) and suggesting that they search their records for information that could be used against Trump and company. The British could collect against this target as a "foreign intelligence operation" without an American warrant and the information could be passed back to the conspirators where it could be spread across the US government ensuring that there would be leaks. pl

[turcopolier]

Edward Amame

Maybe not. pl

[plantman]

As I recall, Clapper opposed Trump prior to the election. But now he is making a statement that supports Trump's position.

Why?

The same is true of Mukasey on ABC This Week on Sunday.

Have these men changed sides?

Trump has replaced many of his foreign policy team with Russia hawks.
Could that be a factor?

[TonyL]

Happy to see you posting again! and glad you are ok.

[turcopolier]

plantman

IMO Clapper is the self-serving opportunist he always was and he is now afraid that Trump may push investigation and prosecution to the point that his own well being may be threatened for his conspiratorial actions. pl

[The Beaver]

CP

Happy to read that you are back. Take care of yourself .