Clapper Says New Claims Regarding Russia 'Did Not Leak from the U.S. Intelligence Community'

James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, stated that he discussed the leak of classified information to the press concerning Russian cyberattacks with Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States. According to Reuters, Clapper said in a statement on January 12 that he believes the U.S. intelligence community played no role in leaking the relevant claims. Some American media outlets and news networks recently reported that during a recent meeting of U.S. intelligence agency heads with Donald Trump, they informed the President-elect that there is an unverified report suggesting Russia has compromising personal and financial information about Trump. Reports indicate that this new claim was presented alongside evidence related to 'Russian cyberattacks' on the U.S. election campaign, specifically targeting the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign, to the President and the President-elect. The publication of these reports in U.S. media came just hours before Trump's first press conference, prompting an immediate response from him on Twitter, calling it 'fake news - a complete political witch hunt.' Vladimir Putin's spokesman also denied the claim that the Kremlin possesses compromising information on the President-elect of the United States. During his press conference, Trump stated, 'The decision by intelligence agencies regarding false information is shameful, something that could have been done in Nazi Germany.' Trump also criticized 'some media' on Twitter, saying, 'A few of the fake news producers were at the press conference, but the people fully understood what the issue was.' In a statement issued after his conversation with Trump, Clapper expressed his deep concern over the leak of the claims to the media. Both agreed that the leak severely harmed national security and was detrimental. Clapper added that they discussed a document from a private security firm that had been circulating among members of Congress and the media for months, even before the intelligence community was aware of it. He emphasized that this document was not prepared by the U.S. intelligence community and he does not believe it was leaked from within the intelligence community. The news agencies that published the unverified claims, including Reuters and the Associated Press, did not reference the identities of their sources. Clapper's statement continued, 'The intelligence community has no judgment on the accuracy of this document, and we have not relied on it in any way to provide our assessment. In any case, part of our job commitments is to provide the necessary information to create the most complete picture of any issue that impacts our national security.' In conclusion, Clapper mentioned that the President-elect appreciated the men and women working in the U.S. intelligence community, and he reassured that this agency is prepared to serve his administration and the American people.