Spicer Says Clapper Has ‘Changed’ His Story About Russia Investigation
- 7 years ago
White House press secretary Sean Spicer has said that former Director of National Intelligence, or DNI, James Clapper’s account of the investigation into Trump associates and Russia “is changing.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer has said that former Director of National Intelligence, or DNI, James Clapper’s account of the investigation into Trump associates and Russia “is changing,” reports the Washington Post.
He made the comment during a press briefing Friday after NBC reporter Kristen Welker asked him about discrepancies between Clapper’s statements and a recent tweet by President Trump which read, “When James Clapper himself, and virtually everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion, when does it end?”
Welker had quoted Clapper as saying to MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell that “I don’t know if there was collusion or not. I don’t know if there’s evidence of collusion or not, nor should I.”
Spicer responded by saying, “It seems -- his testimony and comments on multiple occasions prior to today was, I have no evidence that there was any collusion, right? So to suddenly today shift his story, I believe that the question should be asked to him: You were the Director of National Intelligence, you said multiple times, including in testimony in front of Congress, under oath, that there was no collusion.”
After Spicer was pressed about Clapper not knowing versus finding no involvement, the press secretary said, “I think in this case it is interesting how the story has changed. He made those comments several times over several courses of action. And to say that the Director of National Intelligence, who stated unequivocally what his position was on multiple occasions before today, and now suddenly is saying, I wasn’t sure about it -- the burden seems to be on him, not us.”
On March 5, when NBC News host Chuck Todd asked if there was evidence of ties between Trump associates and Russia, Clapper reportedly said, “Not to my knowledge.”
Todd then followed up by asking, “If it existed, it would have been in [the January] report [about Russian interference in the 2016 election]?”
Clapper said, “This could have unfolded or become available in the time since I left the government…But at the time, we had no evidence of such collusion.”
However, during a Senate hearing on May 8, he told lawmakers that “I was not aware of the counterintelligence investigation Director Comey first referred to during his testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee for Intelligence on the 20th of March, and that comports with my public statements.”
The Washington Post notes that Clapper explained, “During my tenure as DNI, it was my practice to defer to the FBI director, both Director Mueller and then subsequently Director Comey, on whether, when and to what extent they would inform me about such investigations.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer has said that former Director of National Intelligence, or DNI, James Clapper’s account of the investigation into Trump associates and Russia “is changing,” reports the Washington Post.
He made the comment during a press briefing Friday after NBC reporter Kristen Welker asked him about discrepancies between Clapper’s statements and a recent tweet by President Trump which read, “When James Clapper himself, and virtually everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion, when does it end?”
Welker had quoted Clapper as saying to MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell that “I don’t know if there was collusion or not. I don’t know if there’s evidence of collusion or not, nor should I.”
Spicer responded by saying, “It seems -- his testimony and comments on multiple occasions prior to today was, I have no evidence that there was any collusion, right? So to suddenly today shift his story, I believe that the question should be asked to him: You were the Director of National Intelligence, you said multiple times, including in testimony in front of Congress, under oath, that there was no collusion.”
After Spicer was pressed about Clapper not knowing versus finding no involvement, the press secretary said, “I think in this case it is interesting how the story has changed. He made those comments several times over several courses of action. And to say that the Director of National Intelligence, who stated unequivocally what his position was on multiple occasions before today, and now suddenly is saying, I wasn’t sure about it -- the burden seems to be on him, not us.”
On March 5, when NBC News host Chuck Todd asked if there was evidence of ties between Trump associates and Russia, Clapper reportedly said, “Not to my knowledge.”
Todd then followed up by asking, “If it existed, it would have been in [the January] report [about Russian interference in the 2016 election]?”
Clapper said, “This could have unfolded or become available in the time since I left the government…But at the time, we had no evidence of such collusion.”
However, during a Senate hearing on May 8, he told lawmakers that “I was not aware of the counterintelligence investigation Director Comey first referred to during his testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee for Intelligence on the 20th of March, and that comports with my public statements.”
The Washington Post notes that Clapper explained, “During my tenure as DNI, it was my practice to defer to the FBI director, both Director Mueller and then subsequently Director Comey, on whether, when and to what extent they would inform me about such investigations.”