Trump Puts Words in Spymaster’s Mouth

President-elect Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning about his private conversation with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, in a statement that contradicts the spy chief’s take. “James Clapper called me yesterday to denounce the false and fictitious report that was illegally circulated,” Trump wrote. “Made up, phony facts. Too bad!” Just hours before, Clapper released a statement condemning the leaks while saying the intelligence community had not yet made a judgment on the reliability of the information contained in the dossier, which was released in full by BuzzFeed News. As far as the “private security-company document,” Clapper stated, “I emphasized that this document is not a U.S. Intelligence Community product and that I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC. The IC has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions.” Clapper said he was “dismayed” by the leaks and agreed they are “extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security.” The DNI chief suggested the intel community share certain materials with Trump because their existence, true or not, was important for him to be aware of. Nowhere in Clapper’s statement did he suggest he believed the allegations in the document were outright false.