Should Director Of National Intelligence James Clapper Be Fired?

James Clapper (Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

James Clapper Must Go -- David Sirota, Slate

His attempts to mislead the nation -- and absurd claims afterward -- should get him fired and prosecuted.

When introducing James Clapper as his director of national intelligence in 2010, President Obama specifically justified the appointment by saying Clapper is someone who “understands the importance of working with our partners in Congress (and) not merely to appear when summoned, but to keep Congress informed.” At the time, it seemed like a wholly uncontroversial statement; it was simply a president making a sacrosanct promise to keep the legislative branch informed, with the insinuation that previous administrations hadn’t.

Three years later, of course, James Clapper is now the embodiment of perjury before Congress. Indeed, when you couple Edward Snowden’s disclosures with this video of Clapper’s Senate testimony denying that the National Security Administration collects “any type of data on millions (of Americans),” Clapper has become American history’s most explicit and verifiable example of an executive branch deliberately lying to the legislative branch that is supposed to be overseeing it.

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Previous Post #1: Should Director Of National Intelligence James Clapper Resign?
Previous Post #2: Is Now The Time For The Director Of National Intelligence To Joke About Reading People's Emails?

My Comment: When you are asked a sensitive question in a Senate committee hearing .... and it needs to be kept classified .... the standard response is that you will give the answer to the Senator in a private communique and/or in a closed session. This is what NSA Director Alexander did repeatedly on Wednesday. Why did James Clapper try to deliberately mislead the US Senate is beyond me .... but he has now lost his credibility and I am sure that the White House is aware that they have a problem even though President Obama has come out publicly to support him.

Is Now The Time For The Director Of National Intelligence To Joke About Reading People's Emails?

Waka-waka! Director of National Intelligence James Clapper already is cracking jokes about the federal government's controversial Prism program

Director Of National Intelligence James Clapper Jokes About Reading People's Emails At Black-Tie Dinner -- Daily Mail

* James Clapper jokes he was busy reading emails and almost didn't make it to the dinner
* Clapper has a history of foot-in-mouth moments
* Clapper also took comedic aim at the TSA's controversial decision to allow pocket knives on airplanes

As outrage continues to build over the National Security Administration's controversial Prism program, in which the federal government collects the electronic communications (email, text messages, phone calls, etc.) of average citizens, the nation's highest intelligence official is yucking it up about what many consider to be an unconstitutional violation of the U.S. citizenry's right to privacy.

Foot-in-mouth-prone Director of National Intelligence James Clapper spoke at a black-tie dinner honoring former CIA and National Security Agency chief Michael Hayden on Friday night and - just days after admitting that he'd provided false testimony to Congress in regards to the Prism program - started cracking jokes about reading people's emails.

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My Comment: This is the Director of National Intelligence?!?!?! I would usually give a person a pass .... but in view of this, it makes you wonder if he has any sensitivity to his position and the role that he must play.

Should Director Of National Intelligence James Clapper Resign?

NBC News: Clapper 'Didn't Have Good Response' About Misleading Congress -- Breitbart

During his testimony before the Senate on March 12, our Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, answered with an affirmative "No, sir," when he was asked directly by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?"

Subsequent revelations about the government's PRISM program, the federal government's seizing of the phone records of millions of Americans from Verizon, and this Data Center currently under construction in Utah, seem to prove that Clapper's answer simply wasn't true.

Lying to congress is a serious offense.

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More News On Director Of National Intelligence James Clapper

Clapper: We Couldn't Read Everyone's Emails "Even If We Wanted To" -- Real Clear Politics
Intelligence chief James Clapper defends Internet spying program -- New York daily News
James Clapper Says He Answered Senator Wyden in the ‘Least Untruthful Manner’ He Could Think Of -- New York Magazine
Americans Must Call for Independent Counsel and Ouster of Clapper -- Jody Westby, Forbes

My Comment: In the end .... there will have to be a "fall-guy" for the NSA scandal .... and my money is on Director Of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Top U.S. Intelligence Chief Condemns The NSA Leaks

President Barack Obama greets James Clapper, his nominee for director of national intelligence, in the Oval Office, Saturday, June 5, 2010. Photo credit: Pete Souza

Intelligence Chief Calls Leaks on U.S. Data Collection ‘Reprehensible’ -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — The top intelligence official in the United States condemned as “reprehensible” leaks revealing a secret program to collect information from leading Internet companies and said a separate disclosure about an effort to sweep up records of telephone calls threatens “irreversible harm” to the nation’s national security.

The comments by James R. Clapper, the director of national intelligence, late Thursday night about the newly revealed government surveillance programs came as President Obama was set to travel to Southern California on Friday for a two-day summit with President Xi Jinping of China. The revelations appeared certain to overshadow discussions between the two leaders.

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More News On The Director Of National Intelligence Condemning The NSA Leaks

U.S. intel chief blasts leaks on web, phone use tracking -- CBS/AP
US intelligence chief denounces 'reprehensible' release of information -- The Guardian
Obama Administration Declassifies Phone Records Seizures, Condemns Leaks -- Time
James Clapper defends ‘important and entirely legal’ surveillance -- Politico
INTELLIGENCE CHIEF: WaPo And Guardian Reports On 'PRISM' Program Have 'Numerous Inaccuracies' -- Business Insider
US Spy Chief James Clapper Brands Prism Leaks ‘Reprehensible’ -- International Business Times
Intelligence Chief Says Massive Data Collection Is No Big Deal, But Reporting It Is -- Forbes