Information security

House Intel Report: James Clapper Denied, Then Admitted He Spoke to Jake Tapper About Dossier

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper admitted to congressional investigators that he spoke with CNN about the Trump dossier close to the time the outlet published a scoop, according to a House Intelligence Committee report released Friday.

The report revealed that Clapper, during an interview with House Intelligence Committee investigators on July 17, 2017, first “flatly denied” that he had discussed with journalists the dossier or any other intelligence related to the 2016 election.

But during that same interview, he later admitted discussing the dossier with CNN’s Jake Tapper and possibly other journalists.

“Clapper’s discussion with Tapper took place in early January 2017, around the time [intelligence community] leaders briefed President Obama and President-elect Trump” on the dossier, the report said.

CNN reported those briefings on January 10, 2017, prompting BuzzFeed to publish the dossier in full.