James Clapper#Major awards and decorations

James Robert Clapper Jr.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xka4p7CfasEC&q=%22James+Robert+Clapper%22 |title=Nominations before the Senate Armed Services Committee, first session, 110th United Congress. Senate Committee on Armed Services |via=Books.google.ca |access-date=November 14, 2012 |last1=Committee On Armed Services |first1=United States. Congress. Senate |year=2008 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |isbn=9780160811272 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} was born on March 14, 1941,{{cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=Loch K.|title=A Conversation with James R. Clapper, Jr., The Director Of National Intelligence in the United States|journal=Intelligence and National Security|date=2015|volume=30|issue=1|pages=1–25|author-link=Loch K. Johnson|doi=10.1080/02684527.2014.972613|doi-access=free}} in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the son of Anne Elizabeth ({{née}} Wheatley) and First Lieutenant James Robert Clapper.{{cite web|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/29312955.html?dids=29312955:29312955&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+09%2C+1998&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=OBITUARIES&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131144059/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/29312955.html?dids=29312955:29312955&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+09,+1998&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=OBITUARIES&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2013|title=Obituaries|publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com|date=May 9, 1998|access-date=November 14, 2012}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I19CAQAAIAAJ&q=Elizabeth+Wheatley+CLAPPER|title=B and O Magazine|date=August 1, 2001|access-date=November 14, 2012}} His father worked in US Army signals intelligence during World War II, retiring as a colonel in 1972 then worked in security at George Mason University in the late 1970s and early 1980s.{{cite magazine|author=Garrett M. Graff|date=November 17, 2016|title=America's Top Spy Talks Snowden Leaks and Our Ominous Future|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/11/james-clapper-us-intelligence}} His maternal grandfather, James McNeal Wheatley, was an Episcopal minister.{{cite web|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/1750619512.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+30%2C+1969&author=&pub=The+Sun+(1837-1985)&desc=Rites+For+Father+Wheatley%2C+1st+St.+George%27s+Rector%2C+Set&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201025747/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/1750619512.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+30,+1969&author=&pub=The+Sun+(1837-1985)&desc=Rites+For+Father+Wheatley,+1st+St.+George's+Rector,+Set&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 1, 2013|title=Rites For Father Wheatley, 1st St. George's Rector, Set|publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com|date=January 30, 1969|access-date=November 14, 2012}}

Clapper graduated from Nurnberg American High School in West Germany in 1959 where his father was stationed at the time.{{cite book|author=United States. Congress. House. Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence|title=Ic21: The Intelligence Community in the 21st Century: Hearings Before the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourth Congress, First Session, May 22--December 19, 1995|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KBdCR4wqsTQC|date=January 1, 1996|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-16-052644-2|page=325}}{{cite book|author=Loch K. Johnson|title=The Threat on the Horizon: An Inside Account of America's Search for Security after the Cold War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oF6ElDGX3uYC&pg=PA77|date=February 9, 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-979297-9|page=77|author-link=Loch K. Johnson}}

Clapper earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from the University of Maryland in 1963 and a Master of Science degree in political science from St. Mary's University, Texas, in 1970.{{cite web|url=https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/107384/lieutenant-general-james-r-clapper-jr/|title=Lieutenant General James R. Clapper Jr.|publisher=af.mil|access-date=August 17, 2017}}

File:Captain James Clapper Following His Flying Mission on Douglas EC-47 Skytrain.jpg during the Vietnam War, June 1971 ]]

After a brief enlistment in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, where Clapper served as a rifleman and attended the junior course of Platoon Leader Course he transferred to the U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program.{{cite web | title=A tradition of excellence … – Office of the DNI – Medium | website=Medium | date=August 3, 2016 | url=https://medium.com/@ODNIgov/a-tradition-of-excellence-418dffd3c4e5 | access-date=February 21, 2018}}{{cite book|author=Pam Dixon Executive Director |title=Surveillance in America: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and the Law [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and the Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRR1CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA71|date=February 12, 2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-4055-5|pages=71–}} In 1963, he graduated as a distinguished military graduate from the University of Maryland and was commissioned as an Air Force second lieutenant. He served two tours of duty in Southeast Asia where he commanded a signals intelligence detachment based at a listening post in Thailand's Udon Thani Province, and flew 73 combat support missions in EC-47s, including some over Laos and Cambodia.{{cite book|author=Michael A. Turner|title=Historical Dictionary of United States Intelligence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7KDYBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|date=October 8, 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-8108-7890-7|pages=48–}} Later, he commanded a signals intelligence (SIGINT) wing at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, and the Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.{{cite book|author=Pam Dixon Executive Director|title=Surveillance in America: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and the Law [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and the Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRR1CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA71|date=February 12, 2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-4055-5|pages=72–}} During the Persian Gulf War, Clapper served as Chief of Air Force Intelligence.{{cite book|author=Robert R. Tomes|title=US Defence Strategy from Vietnam to Operation Iraqi Freedom: Military Innovation and the New American War of War, 1973–2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pM6TAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA84|date=December 13, 2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-98562-2|pages=84–}}

Clapper became Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in November 1991 under George H. W. Bush.{{Cite news |first=Mark |last=Hosenball |date=August 5, 2010 |title=Clapper Is Confirmed as Intelligence Czar After a Round of Senate Dealmaking |url=https://www.newsweek.com/clapper-confirmed-intelligence-czar-after-round-senate-dealmaking-217206 |work=Newsweek |access-date=August 12, 2018}} While serving as DIA director, he oversaw the transformation of the National Military Intelligence Center into the National Military Joint Intelligence Center.{{cite web | title=LTG James R. Clapper, Jr., USAF > Defense Intelligence Agency > Article View | website=Defense Intelligence Agency | date=October 31, 2013 | url=http://www.dia.mil/About/Leadership/Article-View/Article/567060/ltg-james-r-clapper-jr-usaf/ | access-date=February 22, 2018}} He also launched an initiative to reorganize intelligence analysis by specialists in enemy weapons rather than specialists in countries and regions.{{cite news | last=Stein | first=Jeff | title=SpyTalk – Former DIA analysts rip Clapper's leadership | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=April 13, 2010 | url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/05/former_dia_analysts_rip_clappe.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020004617/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/05/former_dia_analysts_rip_clappe.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 20, 2012 | access-date=February 22, 2018}} The initiative failed because it created functional stovepipes which "reduced the coherence of the analytic effort", whereupon Clapper decided to restore the original organizational structure using strong regional elements. Clapper retired from active duty as a lieutenant general after thirty-two years of service in September 1995.{{cite web|url=http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5005 |title=United States Air Force Biography|publisher=Af.mil|access-date=March 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130802102502/http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5005|archive-date=August 2, 2013}} In 1996, alongside General Wayne Downing, he was a member of the investigatory inquiry into the Khobar Towers bombing, which killed 20 people, including 19 American servicemen.{{cite book |author=Volker Franke |title=Terrorism and Peacekeeping: New Security Challenges |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ewpro2VKTEC&pg=PA103 |year=2005|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-97646-0|pages=103–}}

He then spent six years in private industry, including two years as president of the Security Affairs Support Association, an organization of intelligence contractors.{{cite web | title=Clapper: Managing the Intelligence Enterprise | website=Foreign Policy In Focus | date=June 18, 2010 | url=http://fpif.org/clapper_managing_the_intelligence_enterprise/ | access-date=February 22, 2018}} In August 2001, he was named as the director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (later renamed National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) where he served until June 2006.{{cite web | title=Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper | website=NGA.mil | date=February 22, 2018 | url=https://www.nga.mil/About/History/NGAinHistory/Pages/JamesRClapper.aspx | access-date=February 22, 2018}}

File:James R Clapper.jpg File:D.I.A. Director Lt. Gen. James Clapper with C.I.A. Director Robert Gates.jpg with Director of Central Intelligence Agency Robert Gates at Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters in Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, DC, January 17, 1992]]

From 2006 to 2007, Clapper worked for GeoEye (satellite company) and was an executive on the boards of three government contractors, two of which were doing business with the NGA while he served as director. In October 2006, he began working as a chief operating officer for the British military intelligence company Detica, now DFI and U.S.–based subsidiary of BAE Systems. He also worked for SRA International and Booz Allen Hamilton.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jul-25-la-na-clapper-contractors-20100725-story.html|title=Intelligence nominee's contractor ties draw scrutiny|newspaper=LA Times|date=July 25, 2010|access-date=February 15, 2014}}

Clapper defended the private sector's role in intelligence-gathering in his 2010 confirmation hearings telling the committee, "I worked as a contractor for six years myself, so I think I have a good understanding of the contribution that they have made and will continue to make."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/booz-allen-hamilton-edward-snowden|title=Booz Allen Hamilton: Edward Snowden's US contracting firm|work=The Guardian|date=June 9, 2013}}

For the 2006–2007 academic year, Clapper held the position of Georgetown University's Intelligence and National Security Alliance Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Intelligence.{{cite web|url=http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=19761|title=Professor in Practice of Intelligence Established|publisher=Explore.georgetown.edu|access-date=March 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613004345/http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=19761|archive-date=June 13, 2011|url-status=dead}}

While teaching at Georgetown, he was officially nominated by President George W. Bush to be Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD(I)) on January 29, 2007, and confirmed by the United States Senate on April 11, 2007.{{cite web|url=http://business.highbeam.com/Search?searchTerm=dod+announces+clappernew+undersecretary+defense+for+in&searchType=Article¤tPage=0&orderBy=|title=DoD Announces Clapper as the New Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence|publisher=Goliath.ecnext.com|date=April 16, 2007|access-date=March 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021070246/http://business.highbeam.com/Search?searchTerm=dod+announces+clappernew+undersecretary+defense+for+in&searchType=Article¤tPage=0&orderBy=|archive-date=October 21, 2012|url-status=dead}} He was the second person ever to hold this position, which oversees the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency (NSA), and the National Reconnaissance Office. He also worked closely with DNI John Michael McConnell.{{cite web | title=Defense intel chief dual-hatted to ODNI | website=UPI | date=May 24, 2007 | url=https://www.upi.com/Defense-intel-chief-dual-hatted-to-ODNI/26131180037120/ | access-date=February 25, 2018}}

File:Barack Obama James L Jones and James R Clapper 20101020.jpg presented the NIDSM to James L. Jones, October 20, 2010.]]

Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested to President Obama that he nominate Clapper to replace Dennis C. Blair as Director of National Intelligence, but both Chairman Dianne Feinstein and Vice-chairman Kit Bond of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee offered reservations regarding his appointment due to his military background and emphasis on defense-related issues. In an official statement in the White House Rose Garden on June 5, 2010, Obama announced his nomination of Clapper, saying he "possesses a quality that I value in all my advisers: a willingness to tell leaders what we need to know even if it's not what we want to hear."{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna37526849|title=Obama nominates Clapper to head spy agencies|publisher=NBC News|date=June 5, 2010|access-date=March 13, 2011}}

Lawmakers approved his nomination on August 5, 2010, in a unanimous vote after the Senate Intelligence Committee backed him with a 15–0 vote. During his testimony for the position, Clapper pledged to advance the DNI's authorities, exert tighter control over programming and budgeting, and provide oversight over the CIA's use of drones in Pakistan.The Washington Post, [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/20/dni-nominee-vows-tighter-reins-on-intel-programs/ DNI nominee vows tighter reins on intel programs], washingtontimes.com, July 20, 2010.{{cite news|title=James Clapper Confirmed as Director of National Intelligence|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/james-clapper-confirmed-as-director-of-national-intelligence|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=August 6, 2010|date=August 5, 2010}}{{cite web|last=Montopoli|first=Brian|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-clapper-to-be-tapped-as-new-national-intelligence-director/|title=James Clapper to be Tapped as New National Intelligence Director|publisher=CBS News|date=June 4, 2010|access-date=March 13, 2011}}

File:Defense.gov photo essay 110604-D-XH843-007.jpg listen as Defense Secretary Gates addresses the audience, June 4, 2011.]]

In August 2010, Clapper announced a new position at the DNI called the deputy director of national intelligence for intelligence integration, to integrate the former posts of deputy director for analysis and deputy director for collections into one position. Robert Cardillo, the deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was tapped to fill the new post.CNN, [http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/20/intelligence.integration.post/index.html Director of national intelligence names deputy to boost collaboration], August 20, 2010{{cite news|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/2010/08/clappers_people.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719154105/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/2010/08/clappers_people.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 19, 2012|title= Clapper's people |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 23, 2010}}Got GEOINT?, [http://www.gotgeoint.com/archives/monday-morning-news-kick-off-robert-cardillo-to-boost-collaboration-for-odni-clapper-brings-sense-of-humor-to-job-saic-wins-taser-contract/ Monday Morning News Kick Off: Robert Cardillo to Boost Collaboration for ODNI; Clapper Brings Sense of Humor to Job; SAIC Wins TASER Contract] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826093851/http://www.gotgeoint.com/archives/monday-morning-news-kick-off-robert-cardillo-to-boost-collaboration-for-odni-clapper-brings-sense-of-humor-to-job-saic-wins-taser-contract/ |date=August 26, 2010 }}, gotgeoint.com, August 23, 2010.

{{main|United States intelligence budget}}

After an agreement between Clapper and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, his office assumed administrative control over the National Intelligence Program. Previously the NIP was itemized within the Defense Department budget to keep the line item and dollar amount from public view. In late October 2011, Clapper's office disclosed the top line budget as $53.1 billion, which was below the $75 billion figure circulated in 2010,{{cite web|url=http://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/98-press-releases-2010|title=DNI Releases Budget Figure for 2010 National Intelligence Program|date=October 28, 2010|access-date=February 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225180552/http://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/98-press-releases-2010|archive-date=February 25, 2014|url-status=dead}} in the belief the budget change would strengthen the DNI's authority.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/02/AR2010110207136.html|title= Control of intelligence budget will shift |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 3, 2010}}[https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/11/one-spy-to-rule-them-all-top-spook-launches-push-for-real-power One Spy to Rule Them All: Top Spook Launches Push for Real Power], wired.com, November 3, 2010.Federal Times, [https://archive.today/20120730225046/http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20101103/DEPARTMENTS01/11030303/ Intelligence director says he will get control of funds], November 3, 2010Executive Gov, [http://www.executivegov.com/2010/11/clapper-seeks-authority-over-intel-budget Clapper Seeks Authority over Intel Budget] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303004720/http://www.executivegov.com/2010/11/clapper-seeks-authority-over-intel-budget/ |date=March 3, 2011 }}, executivegov.com, November 3, 2010.

File:Defense.gov photo essay 110929-F-RG147-444.jpg and DIA chief Ronald Burgess, September 29, 2011.]]

In January 2012, Clapper said that "some Iranian officials, probably including supreme leader Ali Khamenei, have changed their calculus and are now more willing to conduct an attack in the United States in response to real or perceived US actions that threaten the regime." Clapper added that Iran was "keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons."{{cite news |title=Iran increasingly willing to launch US attack, top intelligence official warns |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/31/iran-us-attack-james-clapper |work=The Guardian |date=January 31, 2012}} In February 2012, Clapper told the Senate that if Iran is attacked over its alleged nuclear weapons program, it could respond by closing the Strait of Hormuz to ships and launch missiles at regional U.S. forces and allies.

Former Defense Intelligence Agency chief Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess told senators that Iran is unlikely to initiate or intentionally provoke a conflict. Clapper said it's "technically feasible" that Tehran could produce a nuclear weapon in one or two years if its leaders decide to build one, "but practically not likely." Both men said they did not believe Israel had decided to strike Iran back then.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-remains-optimistic-on-iran-sanctions|title=U.S. remains optimistic on Iran sanctions|publisher=CBS News|date=February 21, 2012}}

In December 2012, Clapper authorized the NSA to expand its "third party" relationship with Saudi Arabia. The goal was "to facilitate the Saudi government's ability to utilize SIGINT to locate and track individuals of mutual interest within Saudi Arabia."{{cite news |title=The NSA's New Partner in Spying: Saudi Arabia's Brutal State Police |url=https://theintercept.com/2014/07/25/nsas-new-partner-spying-saudi-arabias-brutal-state-police/ |work=The Intercept |date=July 25, 2014}}

Clapper made "intelligence integration" across the Intelligence Community the primary mission of the ODNI.{{cite web|url=http://www.dni.gov/index.php/about/organization/intelligence-integration-who-we-are|title=Intelligence Integration|publisher=U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence|access-date=February 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225224543/http://www.dni.gov/index.php/about/organization/intelligence-integration-who-we-are|archive-date=February 25, 2014|url-status=dead}} In 2012 the office announced an initiative to create a common information technology desktop for the entire Intelligence Community, moving away from unconnected agency networks to a common enterprise model. In late fiscal 2013, the shared IT infrastructure reached operating capability with plans to bring on all intelligence agencies over the next few years.Federal News Radio, [http://www.federalnewsradio.com/502/3072249/Intelligence-community-cloud-coming-online-in-early-2013 Intelligence community cloud coming online in early 2013], federalnewsradio.com, October 10, 2012.

File:Ron Wyden and James Clapper - 6 June 2013.webm

On March 12, 2013, during a United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, Senator Ron Wyden quoted NSA director Keith B. Alexander's keynote speech at the 2012 DEF CON. Alexander had stated that "Our job is foreign intelligence" and that "those who would want to weave the story that we have millions or hundreds of millions of dossiers on people, is absolutely false.... From my perspective, this is absolute nonsense." Wyden then asked Clapper, "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" He responded, "No, sir." Wyden asked, "It does not?" and Clapper said, "Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently, perhaps, collect, but not wittingly."Greenberg, Andy. "[https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/06/06/watch-top-u-s-intelligence-officials-repeatedly-deny-nsa-spying-on-americans-over-the-last-year-videos/ Watch Top U.S. Intelligence Officials Repeatedly Deny NSA Spying On Americans Over The Last Year (Videos)]." Forbes. June 6, 2013. Retrieved on June 11, 2013. "Eight months later, Senator Ron Wyden quoted[...]"

When Edward Snowden was asked during a January 26, 2014, television interview in Moscow on what the decisive moment was or what caused him to whistle-blow, he replied: "Sort of the breaking point was seeing the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, directly lie under oath to Congress. ... Seeing that really meant for me there was no going back."{{cite web|title=Snowden Interview Transcript|url=http://www.ndr.de/ratgeber/netzwelt/snowden277_page-2.html|publisher=NDR|access-date=January 27, 2014|archive-date=January 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128224438/http://www.ndr.de/ratgeber/netzwelt/snowden277_page-2.html|url-status=dead}}

On June 5, 2013, The Guardian published the first of the global surveillance documents leaked by Edward Snowden, including a top secret court order showing that the NSA had collected phone records from over 120 million Verizon subscribers.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order|title=NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily|author=Glenn Greenwald|work=The Guardian|date=June 6, 2013|access-date=September 16, 2013}}

The following day, Clapper acknowledged that the NSA collects telephony metadata on millions of Americans' telephone calls.{{cite web|title=DNI Statement on Recent Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Information|url=http://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/191-press-releases-2013/868-dni-statement-on-recent-unauthorized-disclosures-of-classified-information|date=June 6, 2013|access-date=August 17, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607220644/http://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/191-press-releases-2013/868-dni-statement-on-recent-unauthorized-disclosures-of-classified-information|archive-date=June 7, 2013}} This metadata information included originating and terminating telephone number, telephone calling card number, International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, time, and duration of phone calls, but did not include the name, address, or financial information of any subscriber.[https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/jun/06/verizon-telephone-data-court-order "Verizon forced to hand over telephone data – full court ruling"], The Guardian, June 6, 2013; retrieved June 12, 2013. The rationale for this data collection, which was said to be permitted under Section 216 of the Patriot Act, was that if the NSA discovered a terrorist was called into the U.S. and knew the number the terrorist was calling from, the NSA could look at the phone records to see what U.S. number he was calling to. If that indicated something worth investigating, obtaining caller identities and actually listening to the content of the calls would require a warrant from a U.S. court.{{cite book |last1=Clapper |first1=James R. |title=Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence |date= 2018|publisher= Viking |location= New York |isbn= 9780525558651 |pages= 226 |edition=ebook}}

On June 7, Clapper was interviewed by Andrea Mitchell on NBC. Clapper said that "I responded in what I thought was the most truthful, or least untruthful manner by saying no" when he testified.{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/nbcnews/pressreleases?pr=contents/press-releases/2013/06/09/nbcnewsexclusiv1370799482417.xml|publisher=NBC News|title=Transcript of Andrea Mitchell's Interview with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper|date=June 9, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203061349/http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/nbcnews/pressreleases?pr=contents%2Fpress-releases%2F2013%2F06%2F09%2Fnbcnewsexclusiv1370799482417.xml|archive-date=December 3, 2013}}

In Clapper's 2018 memoir, he provides a fuller explanation of the incident:

...because the NSA program under Section 215 was highly classified, Senator Wyden wouldn't or shouldn't have been asking questions that required classified answers on camera....my error had been forgetting about Section 215, but even if I had remembered it, there still would have been no acceptable, unclassified way for me to answer the question in an open hearing. Even my saying, "We'll have to wait for the closed, classified session to discuss this," would have given something away. ...I ought to have sent a classified letter to Senator Wyden explaining my thoughts when I'd answered and that I misunderstood what he was actually asking me about. Yes, I made a mistake – a big one – when I responded, but I did not lie. I answered with truth in what I understood the context of the question to be.{{cite book |last1=Clapper |first1=James R. |title=Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence |date= 2018|publisher= Viking |location= New York |isbn= 9780525558651 |pages= 226–227 |edition=ebook}}

On June 11, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) accused Clapper of not giving a "straight answer," noting that Clapper's office had been provided with the question a day in advance of the hearing and was given the opportunity following Clapper's testimony to amend his response.{{cite news|last=Blake|first=Aaron|date=June 11, 2013|title=Sen. Wyden: Clapper didn't give 'straight answer' on NSA programs|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/06/11/sen-wyden-clapper-didnt-give-straight-answer-on-nsa-programs|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=November 20, 2015}}

On June 12, 2013, Representative Justin Amash became the first congressman to openly accuse Director Clapper of criminal perjury, calling for his resignation. In a series of tweets he stated: "It now appears clear that the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, lied under oath to Congress and the American people," and "Perjury is a serious crime ... [and] Clapper should resign immediately,"Muñoz, Carlos. "[https://thehill.com/policy/defense/153193-gops-amash-clapper-should-resign/ GOP's Amash: Clapper should resign]", The Hill, June 12, 2013. U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said "The director of national intelligence, in March, did directly lie to Congress, which is against the law."Ackerman, Spencer. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/18/rand-paul-clapper-lying-nsa-surveillance?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20main-3%20Main%20trailblock:Network%20front%20-%20main%20trailblock:Position2:sublinks "Rand Paul accuses James Clapper of lying to Congress over NSA suveillance"], The Guardian. June 18, 2013. Paul later suggested that Clapper might deserve prison time for his testimony.Knowlton, Brian. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/us/politics/senators-differ-sharply-on-penalty-for-snowden.html?h "Senators differ sharply on penalty for Snowden"], New York Times. January 6, 2014; retrieved August 17, 2017.

On June 27, 2013, a group of 26 senators sent him a complaint letter opposing the use of a "body of secret law."[https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/jun/28/senators-letter-james-clapper "Senators' letter to US director of national intelligence James Clapper"], The Guardian, June 28, 2013; retrieved August 17, 2017.Roberts, Dan. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/28/senators-james-clapper-nsa-data-collection "Senators accuse government of using 'secret law' to collect Americans' data"], The Guardian. June 28, 2013; retrieved August 17, 2017.

On July 1, 2013, Clapper apologized, telling Senate Intelligence Committee that "my response was clearly erroneous—for which I apologize."Roberts, Dan and Spencer Ackerman. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/01/james-clapper-apology-congress-erroneous-response "Clapper under pressure despite apology for 'erroneous' statements to Congress"], The Guardian, July 1, 2013; retrieved July 2, 2013. On July 2, Clapper said that he had forgotten about the Patriot Act, which was later clarified that he forgot Section 215 of the act specifically, and therefore had given an "erroneous" answer.{{cite news|last=Ackermann|first=Spencer|title=Clapper: I gave 'erroneous' answer because I forgot about Patriot Act|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/02/james-clapper-senate-erroneous|access-date=February 13, 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=July 2, 2013}}

On July 2, 2013, journalist Glenn Greenwald accused the U.S. media of focusing on Edward Snowden instead of focusing on wrongdoing by Clapper and other U.S. officials.Glenn Greenwald. "[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/03/clapper-lying-snowden-eu-bolivia James Clapper, EU play-acting, and political priorities]." The Guardian. Wednesday July 3, 2013. Retrieved on July 3, 2013. Jody Westby of Forbes argued that due to the revelations, the American public should ask Clapper to resign from office, arguing that "not only did Mr. Clapper give false testimony to Congress, even his June 6 statement was false. We now know—since the companies identified by the Washington Post have started fessing up—that lots more than telephony metadata has been collected and searched."{{cite news|last1=Westby|first1=Jody|title=Americans Must Call for Independent Counsel and Ouster of Clapper|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jodywestby/2013/06/10/americans-must-call-for-independent-counsel-and-ouster-of-clapper/|work=Forbes|date=June 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821171913/http://www.forbes.com/sites/jodywestby/2013/06/10/americans-must-call-for-independent-counsel-and-ouster-of-clapper/|archive-date=August 21, 2013}} Fred Kaplan of Slate also advocated having Clapper fired, arguing "if President Obama really welcomes an open debate on this subject, James Clapper has disqualified himself from participation in it. He has to go."Kaplan, Fred. "[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2013/06/fire_dni_james_clapper_he_lied_to_congress_about_nsa_surveillance.single.html Fire James Clapper]." Slate. Tuesday June 11, 2013. Retrieved on June 14, 2013. Andy Greenberg of Forbes said that NSA officials along with Clapper, in the years 2012 and 2013 "publicly denied–often with carefully hedged words–participating in the kind of snooping on Americans that has since become nearly undeniable." John Dean, former White House Counsel for President Nixon, has claimed that it is unlikely Clapper would be charged with the three principal criminal statutes that address false statements to Congress: perjury, obstruction of Congress, and making false statements.{{cite web|title=Will Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Be Prosecuted for Lying to Congress Regarding the NSA's Surveillance?|first=John|last=Dean|date=June 28, 2013|author-link=John Dean|publisher=Justia|url=http://verdict.justia.com/2013/06/28/will-director-of-national-intelligence-james-clapper-be-prosecuted-for-lying-to-congress-regarding-the-nsas-surveillance}} David Sirota of Salon said that if the U.S. government fails to treat Clapper and Alexander in the same way as it did Roger Clemens, "the message from the government would be that lying to Congress about baseball is more of a felony than lying to Congress about Americans' Fourth Amendment rights" and that the “message would declare that when it comes to brazen law-breaking, as long as you are personally connected to the president, you get protection rather than the prosecution you deserve."{{cite news |author-link=David Sirota|last=Sirota |first=David |url=http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/this_man_is_still_lying_to_america/ |title=James Clapper is still lying to America |work=Salon |date=July 1, 2013 |access-date=July 5, 2013 }}

File:Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, center, shares a laugh with other guests before a retirement ceremony for U.S. Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander March 28, 2014, at the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort George 140328-D-EV637-372.jpg (left) were both accused of lying under oath to Congress.[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/25/nsa-reform-fire-officials-lied "To reform the NSA, fire officials who lie"], The Guardian, September 25, 2013.[http://www.salon.com/2013/06/11/put_the_nsa_on_trial "Put the NSA on trial"], Salon.com, June 11, 2013.]]

On December 19, 2013, seven Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee called on Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate Clapper, stating "witnesses cannot be allowed to lie to Congress."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/19/republicans-consequences-james-clapper-testimony|title=Republicans demand consequences for 'willful lie' by intelligence chief|author=Spencer Ackerman|newspaper=The Guardian|date=December 19, 2013}}

In January 2014, Robert S. Litt, general counsel to the Office of the DNI, stated that Clapper did not lie to Congress, citing the context of the question and the fact that Clapper's staff had answered the question in writing the day before.Pengelly, Martin. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/04/clapper-lie-congress-nsa-national-intelligence-counsel "Clapper did not lie to Congress on NSA, says national intelligence counsel"], The Guardian, January 4, 2014. In May 2015, Litt clarified that Clapper "had absolutely forgotten the existence of" Section 215 of the Patriot Act, and claimed he had been thinking of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when he gave the answer.{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/241508-spy-head-had-absolutely-forgotten-about-nsa-program/|title=Attorney: Spy chief had 'forgotten' about NSA program when he misled Congress|work=The Hill|date=May 8, 2015}}{{cite web | last=Hattem | first=Julian | title=Attorney: Spy chief had 'forgotten' about NSA program when he misled Congress | website=TheHill | date=May 8, 2015 | url=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/241508-spy-head-had-absolutely-forgotten-about-nsa-program/ | access-date=February 23, 2018}}

In January 2014, six members of the House of Representatives wrote to President Obama urging him to dismiss Clapper for lying to Congress, stating his statement was "incompatible with the goal of restoring trust" in the intelligence community, but were rebuffed by the White House.{{cite news|title=Lawmakers to Obama: Fire your intelligence chief for lying|url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/lawmakers-want-intel-chief-fired-lying|access-date=February 13, 2014|publisher=MSNBC|date=February 27, 2014}}{{cite news|last=Ackermann|first=Spencer|title=James Clapper calls for Snowden and 'accomplices' to return NSA documents|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/29/james-clapper-condemns-snowden-senate-testimony|access-date=February 13, 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=January 29, 2014}}{{cite web|title=Congressman Darrell Issa letter to U.S. President Barack Obama|url=http://issa.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FINAL-NSA-Reforms-Letter-01-23-2014-2.pdf|work=Darrell Issa|author1=Darrell Issa|author2=Ted Poe|author3=Paul Broun|author4=Doug Collins|author5=Walter Jones|author6=Alan Grayson|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221201203/http://issa.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FINAL-NSA-Reforms-Letter-01-23-2014-2.pdf|archive-date=February 21, 2014}}

Caitlin Hayden, the White House National Security Council spokesperson, said in an e-mailed statement that Obama has "full faith in Director Clapper's leadership of the intelligence community. The Director has provided an explanation for his answers to Senator Wyden and made clear that he did not intend to mislead the Congress."{{cite news|last=Fung|first=Brian|title=Darrell Issa: James Clapper lied to Congress about NSA and should be fired|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/01/27/darrell-issa-james-clapper-lied-to-congress-about-nsa-and-should-be-fired/|access-date=February 13, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 27, 2014}}

In March 2014, Clapper signed a directive that barred employees of the intelligence community from providing "intelligence-related information" to reporters without prior authorization, even to provide unclassified information, making a violation of the directive a "security violation".{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-spy-chief-james-clapper-prohibits-employees-from-speaking-with-media-memo-says/|title=US spy chief James Clapper prohibits employees from speaking with media, memo says|work=Foxnews|date=April 21, 2014}}{{cite web | last=Ackerman | first=Spencer | title=Clapper bans US intelligence employees from 'unauthorised' media contact | website=The Guardian | date=April 21, 2014 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/21/james-clapper-bans-us-intelligence-community-unauthorized-media-contact | access-date=February 23, 2018}} The order, which purportedly came as a result of congressional urging to crack down on leaks, drew criticism from public watchdogs who claimed that the move would stifle inner-agency criticism and threaten whistleblowers.{{cite web | title=U.S. intelligence chief bars unauthorized contacts with reporters on all intel-related matters | website=mcclatchydc | date=April 21, 2014 | url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article24766540.html | access-date=February 23, 2018}}{{cite web | last=Dilianian | first=Ken | title=U.S. spy chief bans employees from talking to journalists | website=Los Angeles Times | date=April 22, 2014 | url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-na-pn-clapper-leaks-20140422-story.html | access-date=February 23, 2018}} The following month he implemented a new pre-publication review policy for the ODNI's current and former employees that prohibits them from citing news reports based on leaks in their unofficial writings.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/us/politics/obama-policy-bans-employee-use-of-leaked-material.html|title=Intelligence Policy Bans Citation of Leaked Material|date=May 9, 2014|work=The New York Times}}

File:Barack Obama and Joe Biden meet with members of the National Security Council, September 10, 2014.jpg and Joe Biden meet Clapper, Rice, Brennan and other members of the National Security Council, September 10, 2014. ]]

{{Main|ACLU v. Clapper}}

In June 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against several defendants including Clapper challenging the intelligence community's bulk collection of metadata. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York found in December 2013 that the collection did not violate the Fourth Amendment and dismissed the lawsuit.{{cite news |title=ACLU sues over NSA surveillance program |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 11, 2013 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/aclu-sues-over-nsa-surveillance-program/2013/06/11/fef71e2e-d2ab-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html |access-date=February 22, 2018}}{{cite web |title=ACLU v. Clapper {{snd}}Challenge to NSA Mass Call-Tracking Program |publisher=American Civil Liberties Union |date=June 5, 2013 |url=https://www.aclu.org/cases/aclu-v-clapper-challenge-nsa-mass-call-tracking-program |access-date=February 22, 2018}} On May 7, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Section 215 of the Patriot Act did not authorize the bulk collection of metadata, which judge Gerard E. Lynch called a "staggering" amount of information.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-nsa/nsas-phone-spying-program-ruled-illegal-by-appeals-court-idUSKBN0NS1IN20150507|title=NSA's phone spying program ruled illegal by appeals court|work=Reuters|date=May 7, 2015}}

{{Main|Office of Personnel Management data breach}}

In June 2015, the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that it had been the target of a data breach targeting the records of as many as 18 million people. The Washington Post has reported that the attack originated in China, citing unnamed government officials.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/04/412086068/massive-data-breach-puts-4-million-federal-employees-records-at-risk|title=Massive Data Breach Puts 4 Million Federal Employees' Records At Risk |publisher=NPR|date=June 4, 2015|author=Sanders, Sam}}

Speaking at a forum in Washington, D.C., Clapper warned of the danger posed by a capable adversary such as the Chinese government and said, "You have to kind of salute the Chinese for what they did."{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/china-leading-suspect-massive-hack-us-government-networks/story?id=32036222|title=China Is 'Leading Suspect' in Massive Hack of US Government Networks|publisher=ABC News|date=June 25, 2015|access-date=June 10, 2018|first1=Mike|last1=Levine}}

{{main|CENTCOM analyst allegations}}

In August 2015, fifty intelligence analysts working for United States Central Command (CENTCOM) complained to the Pentagon's Inspector General and the media, alleging that CENTCOM's senior leadership was altering or distorting intelligence reports on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to paint a more optimistic picture of the ongoing war against ISIL forces in Iraq and Syria.{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pentagon-confirms-investigation-skewed-intelligence-isis/story?id=33772763|title=Pentagon Confirms Probe Into 'Skewed' ISIS Intelligence|last=Luis|first=Martinez|date=September 15, 2015|website=ABC News|access-date=October 6, 2017}} They were subsequently joined by civilian and Defense Intelligence Agency analysts working for CENTCOM. Members of the groups began anonymously leaking details of the case to the press in late August.{{Cite news|url=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/253188-report-analysts-claim-us-military-altering-intelligence-on-isis-war/|title=Report: Analysts claim US military altering intelligence on ISIS war|last=Wong|first=Kristina|date=September 10, 2015|work=TheHill|access-date=October 6, 2017}} In September 2015, The Guardian reported that according to an unknown former intelligence official, Clapper was in frequent contact with Brigadier General Steven Grove, who was said to be one of the subjects of the Inspector General's review.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/10/james-clapper-pentagon-military-official|title=US spy chief's 'highly unusual' reported contact with military official raises concerns |author=Spencer Ackerman|work=The Guardian|date=September 10, 2015}} In February 2017, the Inspector General of the United States Department of Defense completed its investigation and cleared the senior leadership of CENTCOM, concluding that "allegations of intelligence being intentionally altered, delayed or suppressed by top CENTCOM officials from mid-2014 to mid-2015 were largely unsubstantiated."{{cite news|last1=Cohen|first1=Zachary|title=Report: Centcom leaders didn't cook ISIS intelligence|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/politics/report-centcom-intelligence/index.html|access-date=April 10, 2018|agency=CNN|date=February 1, 2017}}

In November 2016, Clapper resigned, effective at the end of President Obama's term in January 2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/director-national-intelligence-james-clapper-resigns-n685301|title=Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has resigned|publisher=NBC News|date=November 17, 2016}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38018153|title=James Clapper, the US intelligence chief, resigns|date=November 17, 2016|via=bbc.co.uk|work=BBC News}}

In June 2017 Clapper commenced an initial four-week term at the Australian National University (ANU) National Security College in Canberra that includes public lectures on key global and national security issues. Clapper was also expected to take part in the ANU Crawford Australian Leadership Forum, the nation's pre-eminent dialogue of academics, parliamentarians and business leaders.[http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/former-us-director-of-national-intelligence-jim-clapper-to-join-anu-national-security Clapper to join Australian National University], anu.edu.au; accessed August 17, 2017.

In August 2017, CNN hired Clapper as a national security analyst.{{cite news |title=GOP report: Clapper told CNN host about Trump dossier in 2017 |url=https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/385278-gop-report-clapper-told-cnn-host-about-trump-dossier-in-2017/ |work=The Hill |date=April 27, 2018}} In May 2018, Clapper expressed his support for CIA Director-designate Gina Haspel.{{cite news |title=Clapper: Don't agree with McCain on Haspel |url=https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/05/10/james-clapper-john-mccain-senate-reject-haspel-sot-ctn.cnn |publisher=CNN |date=May 10, 2018}}

In a March 2017 interview with Chuck Todd, Clapper, who had been the Director of National Intelligence under President Obama until January 20, 2017, revealed the state of his knowledge at that time:

{{quote box|

CHUCK TODD: Were there 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…

CHUCK TODD: I understand that. But does it exist?

JAMES CLAPPER: Not to my knowledge.

Todd pressed him to elaborate.

CHUCK TODD: If [evidence of collusion] 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.{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-clapper-no-evidence-of-collusion-between-trump-and-russia-890509379597 |title=Full Clapper: "No Evidence" of Collusion Between Trump and Russia |work=NBC News |date=March 5, 2017 |access-date=March 20, 2017 |archive-date=March 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305231426/http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-clapper-no-evidence-of-collusion-between-trump-and-russia-890509379597 |url-status=live }}}}

Clapper had stopped receiving briefings on January 20 and 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".{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/08/full-transcript-sally-yates-and-james-clapper-testify-on-russian-election-interference/ |title=Full transcript: Sally Yates and James Clapper testify on Russian election interference |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 8, 2017}} CNN stated that Clapper had "taken a major defense away from the White House."{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/08/opinions/yates-was-headliner-but-clapper-stole-the-show-kayyem/ |title=Clapper: Putin did it to demean Clinton and help elect Trump |first=Juliette |last=Kayyem |publisher=CNN |date=May 8, 2017}}

In a speech at Australia's National Press Club in June Clapper accused Trump of "ignorance or disrespect", called the firing of FBI director James Comey "inexcusable", and warned of an "internal assault on our institutions".{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/06/07/the-former-u-s-intelligence-chief-just-unleashed-on-donald-trum_a_22129842/ |title=The Former U.S. Intelligence Chief Just Unleashed On Donald Trump|first=Josh|last=Butler|date=June 7, 2017|newspaper=The Huffington Post}}

In June 2017, Clapper opined that Trump-Russia scandal is more serious than the Watergate scandal of the 1970s.{{cite news |title=James Clapper says Watergate 'pales' in comparison with Trump Russia scandal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/07/james-clapper-says-watergate-pales-in-comparison-with-trump-and-russia-scandal |work=The Guardian |date=June 7, 2017}} In December 2017, Clapper said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "knows how to handle an asset, and that's what he's doing with" President Trump.{{cite news |title=James Clapper defends his Trump-Russia commentary on CNN: 'I've tried to be factual and temperate-minded' |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/james-clapper-defends-his-trump-russia-commentary-ive-tried-to-be-factual-and-temperate-minded |publisher=Fox News |date=March 25, 2019}} In his 2018 memoir Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence, Clapper further addressed the issue.{{cite book |last1=Clapper |first1=James R. |title=Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence |date= 2018|publisher= Viking |location= New York |isbn= 9780525558651 |pages= 424 |edition=ebook}}

In an August 2017 interview, Clapper stated that U.S. President Donald Trump having access to the nuclear codes is "pretty damn scary" and he questioned his fitness to be in office.{{cite news|last1=Borger|first1=Julian|title=Ex-intelligence chief: Trump's access to nuclear codes is 'pretty damn scary' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/23/ex-intelligence-chief-trumps-access-to-nuclear-codes-is-pretty-damn-scary|access-date=August 23, 2017|newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=August 23, 2017}}

In October 2018, Clapper alongside several Democratic officials and other critics of Trump was targeted by a mailed pipe bomb.{{Cite news|url=https://apnews.com/46514c3eb6fb474c9ac1df2c24b0acf5|title=More suspicious packages found, these to Booker, Clapper|last1=Balsamo|first1=Michael|date=October 26, 2018|work=AP NEWS|access-date=October 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026081736/https://apnews.com/46514c3eb6fb474c9ac1df2c24b0acf5|archive-date=October 26, 2018|url-status=live|last2=Tucker|first2=Eric|last3=Long|first3=Colleen}}

In February 2019, Clapper said he agreed with former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe's opinion that President Donald Trump could be a "Russian asset".{{cite news |title=Mueller Exposes Spy Chiefs |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/mueller-exposes-spy-chiefs-11553555713 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=March 25, 2019}}

In October 2020, Clapper was part of a group of 51 former intelligence officials that signed a letter that stated the Biden laptop story “has the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation".{{cite news |title=Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276|date=October 19, 2020}} Portions of the laptop's contents have since been verified as authentic, and no such Russian linkage was found.{{cite news |last1=Broadwater |first1=Luke |title=Officials Who Cast Doubt on Hunter Biden Laptop Face Questions |work=The New York Times |date=May 16, 2023 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/us/politics/republicans-hunter-biden-laptop.html }}

In May 2017, Clapper said that Russia is the primary adversary of the United States. He explained why he believes the Russians are so dangerous:

If you put that in context with everything else we knew the Russians were doing to interfere with the election, and just the historical practices of the Russians, who typically, almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favor, whatever, which is a typical Russian technique. So we were concerned.

In June 2017, Clapper said that "[t]he Russians are not our friends", because it is in their "genes to be opposed, diametrically opposed, to the United States and western democracies."

Clapper serves on the Advisory Board of the Committee to Investigate Russia, a nonpartisan, non-profit group formed with the intention of helping "Americans understand and recognize the scope and scale of Russia's continuing attacks on our democracy."{{cite web | title = Committee to Investigate Russia: Advisory Board | url = https://investigaterussia.org/advisory-board | website = Committee to Investigate Russia | access-date = February 10, 2018}}

File:Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.jpg in 2016]]

In 2003, Clapper, then head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, attempted to explain the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq by asserting that the weapons materials were "unquestionably" shipped out of Iraq to Syria and other countries just before the American invasion, a "personal assessment" that Clapper's own agency head at the time, David Burpee, "could not provide further evidence to support."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/29/world/the-struggle-for-iraq-weapons-search-iraqis-removed-arms-material-us-aide-says.html |title=The Struggle for Iraq: Weapons Search: Iraqis Removed Arms Material, U.S. Aide Says|work=The New York Times|date=October 29, 2003|access-date=March 13, 2011}}

In an interview on December 20, 2010, with Diane Sawyer of ABC News, Clapper indicated he was completely unaware that 12 alleged terrorists had been arrested in Great Britain earlier that day.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/national-security-leaders-discuss-ongoing-terror-janet-napolitano-dhs-homeland-politics-12453917|title=Video: National Security Leaders Discuss Terror Threat|author=|website=ABC News}}{{cite news|last=Stein |first=Jeff |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/12/clapper_flunks_quiz_on_london.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009120946/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/12/clapper_flunks_quiz_on_london.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 9, 2012 |title=SpyTalk – Clapper flunks ABC's quiz on London terror case |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 21, 2010 |access-date=March 13, 2011}}

In February 2011, when mass demonstrations were on the verge of toppling Hosni Mubarak's presidency in Egypt, Clapper told the House Intelligence Committee during a hearing that:

The term 'Muslim Brotherhood' ... is an umbrella term for a variety of movements, in the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam.... They have pursued social ends, a betterment of the political order in Egypt, et cetera. ... In other countries, there are also chapters or franchises of the Muslim Brotherhood, but there is no overarching agenda, particularly in pursuit of violence, at least internationally.{{cite web|last=Gerstein |first=Josh |url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/0211/DNI_Clapper_Egypts_Muslim_Brotherhood_largely_secular.html?showall |title=DNI Clapper retreats from 'secular' claim on Muslim Brotherhood |work=Politico |date=2011-02-10 |access-date=2011-03-13}}

The Obama administration took the rare step later that day of correcting its own intelligence chief after the statement drew scrutiny among members of Congress.{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-administration-corrects-clappers-claim-that-muslim-brotherhood-is-secular/|title=Obama Administration Corrects Clapper's Claim That Muslim Brotherhood Is 'Secular'|publisher=Fox News|date=March 26, 2015}}

In March 2011, Clapper was heard at the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services commenting on the 2011 Libyan civil war that "over the longer term" Gaddafi "will prevail". This position was loudly questioned by the White House, when National Security Adviser Thomas E. Donilon qualified his statement as a "static and one-dimensional assessment" and argued that "the lost legitimacy [of Gaddafi] matters."{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/world/africa/11diplomacy.html |title=U.S. Escalates Pressure on Libya Amid Mixed Signals|date=March 11, 2011|work=The New York Times}} During the same hearing he was also questioned when he neglected to list Iran and North Korea among the nuclear powers that might pose a threat to the United States.

In February 2016, Clapper cited the activities of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Islamic State and "homegrown extremists" as major threats to the United States.{{cite news |title=US intelligence chief: we might use the internet of things to spy on you |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/09/internet-of-things-smart-home-devices-government-surveillance-james-clapper |work=The Guardian |date=February 9, 2016}}

In March 2017, Clapper said on NBC's Meet the Press that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had not obtained a FISA court order allowing the FBI to tap Trump Tower, rebutting Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claims that President Barack Obama personally ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower before the November election.{{cite web|author=Kailani Koenig|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/former-dni-james-clapper-i-can-deny-wiretap-trump-tower-n729261|title=Former DNI James Clapper: 'I Can Deny' Wiretap of Trump Tower|publisher=NBC News|date=March 5, 2017}} Clapper stated "I will say that for the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw as DNI, was there no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time or as a candidate or against his campaign," but added that "I can't speak for other Title III authorized entities in the government or a state or local entity."Lauren Carroll, [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/mar/06/did-donald-trump-invent-claim-barack-obama-tapped-/ "Did Donald Trump invent claim that Barack Obama tapped his phone?"], PolitiFact (March 6, 2017).

Clapper also said that he saw no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia."[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/taibbi-russia-story-is-a-minefield-for-democrats-and-the-media-w471074 Why the Russia Story Is a Minefield for Democrats and the Media]". Rolling Stone. March 8, 2017. He stopped receiving briefings on January 20 and 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". CNN stated that Clapper had "taken a major defense away from the White House."

In May 2017, Clapper was criticized by some media outlets for a xenophobic remark in an interview with Chuck Todd from Meet the Press.{{cite web |title=James Clapper Tells NBC's Chuck Todd That Russians Are 'Genetically Driven' to Co-opt|url=http://observer.com/2017/05/james-clapper-russia-xenophobia/|work=The Observer|date=May 30, 2017}} He told NBC's Meet the Press that Russians are "almost genetically driven" to act deviously.{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/james-clapper-trump-russia-ties-my-dashboard-warning-light-was-n765601|title=James Clapper on Trump-Russia Ties: 'My Dashboard Warning Light Was Clearly On |publisher=NBC News|date=May 28, 2017}}{{cite web|title=James Clapper Tells NBC's Chuck Todd That Russians Are 'Genetically Driven' to Co-opt|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/9037f972-3f90-3019-8b96-fafdd5ccff9a/ss_james-clapper-tells-nbc%E2%80%99s.html|publisher=Yahoo! News|date=May 30, 2017|access-date=June 24, 2017|archive-date=January 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109064558/https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/9037f972-3f90-3019-8b96-fafdd5ccff9a/ss_james-clapper-tells-nbc%E2%80%99s.html|url-status=dead}}

On October 26, 2018, the New York Times reported that an explosive device addressed to James Clapper was delivered to CNN offices in Manhattan. Federal authorities are investigating.{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/nyregion/cnn-cory-booker-pipe-bombs-sent.html | title=Outspoken Trump Supporter in Florida Charged in Attempted Bombing Spree| newspaper=The New York Times| date=October 26, 2018| last1=Rashbaum| first1=William K.| last2=Feuer| first2=Alan| last3=Goldman| first3=Adam}}

Clapper was portrayed by Jonathan Banks in the two part series The Comey Rule.{{Cite web|last= Fleming|first=Mike Jr.|date=November 19, 2019|title=James Comey Vs. Donald Trump Mini: Jonathan Banks Set For James Clapper, Richard Thomas For Chuck Rosenberg, Seann Gallagher For Jim Rybicki|url=https://deadline.com/2019/11/james-comey-miniseries-jonathan-banks-james-clapper-richard-thomas-chuck-rosenberg-seann-gallagher-jim-rybicki-1202788577/|access-date=November 16, 2020|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}

In 1965, Clapper married Susan Ellen Terry, a former National Security Agency employee. They have a daughter, Jennifer, who is a principal of an elementary school in Fairfax County, Virginia. They also have a son, Andrew, who is an Instructional Technology resource teacher for Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke, Virginia.{{cite web |last1=Greenwald |first1=Glenn |title=Inside the Mind of James Clapper |url=https://theintercept.com/2014/02/24/inside-mind-james-clapper/ |website=The Intercept |date=February 24, 2014}}{{cite web |last1=Levine |first1=Daniel S. |title=Sue Clapper, James' Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know |url=https://heavy.com/news/2017/05/james-clapper-wife-sue-susan-nsa-dni-age-kids-family-photos-bio/ |website=Heavy.com |language=en |date=May 8, 2017}}{{cite web |last1=Gregory |first1=Sara |title=Roanoke County teachers, students show off tech projects |url=https://www.roanoke.com/news/education/roanoke-county-teachers-students-show-off-tech-projects/article_3f445bfb-4e60-5088-82f1-2d1202478df7.html |website=Roanoke Times |date=April 13, 2016 |language=en}}

Clapper has a brother, Mike Clapper of Illinois, and a sister, Chris. He introduced them at his Senate confirmation hearings on July 20, 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111shrg63996/content-detail.html|title=S. HRG. 111-857 – Nomination of Lieutenant General James Clapper, Jr., USAF, Ret., To be Director of National Intelligence|date=July 20, 2010|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=7|access-date=August 26, 2017}}

In the 2024 United States presidential election, Clapper endorsed Kamala Harris.{{Cite web |title=NSL4A Endorses Kamala Harris for President of the United States|publisher=National Security Leaders for America |url=https://www.nsl4a.org/nsl4a-announcements/nsl4a-endorsement-harris |accessdate=Jan 11, 2025}}

• 1963 Bachelor of Science degree in political science, University of Maryland
• 1970 Master of Arts degree in political science, St. Mary's University, Texas
• 1973 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama
• 1975 Distinguished graduate, Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia
• 1976 Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama
• 1979 National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
• 1990 Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 1990 Harvard Defense Policy Seminar, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Clapper also holds an honorary doctorate in strategic intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College, Washington, D.C., where he taught as an adjunct professor.

• William Oliver Baker Award of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, 2006
• Rosemary Award from the National Security Archive at George Washington University for the "worst open government performance of 2013."{{cite web|url=http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/news/20140324/|title=Spy Chief James Clapper Wins Rosemary Award}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2014/03/24/spy-chief-james-clapper-wins-not-so-coveted-rosemary-award/|title=Spy chief James Clapper wins not-so-coveted Rosemary award|author=Al Kamen|date=March 24, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post}}

{{USAF DOR shoulder board O-9|June 8, 1963|January 8, 1965|March 16, 1967|November 1, 1973|April 1, 1976|February 11, 1980|October 1, 1985|September 1, 1988|November 15, 1991}}

• May 1963 – March 1964, student, Signal Intelligence Officers Course, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas
• March 1964 – December 1965, analytic branch chief of Air Force Special Communications Center, Kelly Air Force Base, Texas
• December 1965 – December 1966, watch officer and air defense analyst, 2nd Air Division (later, 7th Air Force), Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam
• December 1966 – June 1970, aide to the commander and command briefer, Air Force Security Service, Kelly Air Force Base, Texas
• June 1970 – June 1971, commander of Detachment 3, 6994th Security Squadron, Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand
• June 1971 – August 1973, military assistant to the director of the National Security Agency, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland
• August 1973 – August 1974, aide to the commander and intelligence staff officer, Headquarters Air Force Systems Command, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland
• August 1974 – September 1975, distinguished graduate, Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia
• September 1975 – June 1976, chief, signal intelligence branch, Headquarters U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii
• June 1976 – August 1978, chief, signal intelligence branch, J-23, Headquarters U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii
• August 1978 – June 1979, student, National War College, National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
• June 1979 – January 1980, Washington area representative for electronic security command, deputy commander of Fort George G. Meade, Maryland
• February 1980 – April 1981, commander of 6940th Electronic Security Wing, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland
• April 1981 – June 1984, director for intelligence plans and systems, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
• June 1984 – May 1985, commander of Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida
• June 1985 – June 1987, assistant chief of staff for intelligence, U.S. Forces Korea, and deputy assistant chief of staff for intelligence, Republic of Korea and U.S. Combined Forces Command
• July 1987 – July 1989, director for intelligence, Headquarters U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii
• July 1989 – March 1990, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
• April 1990 – November 1991, assistant chief of staff for intelligence, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
• November 1991 – 1995, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and General Defense Intelligence Program, Washington, D.C.

{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?445208-1/after-words-james-clapper After Words interview with Clapper on Facts and Fears, May 26, 2018], C-SPAN}}

• {{cite book |author=James R. Clapper with Trey Brown |year=2018 |title=Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lPk5DwAAQBAJ |location=New York |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0525558644 |oclc=1006804896}}

{{Portal|Biography|United States|Politics}}

• Michael Hayden, retired Air Force general and former director of the NSA (1999–2005) and CIA (2006–2009)

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