James Clapper tells Trump he doesn't think leaks came from within intel community

James Clapper.
(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper released a statement Wednesday night announcing that he's spoken with Donald Trump about the leaks that have come out about the briefing he received from intelligence leaders last week, and expressed his "profound dismay" at the information appearing in the press.

Clapper said they both agreed that the leaks are "extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security," and he reiterated to Trump that the intelligence community "stands ready to serve his administration." Clapper also brought up the report containing unverified claims about Russia having compromising material on Trump, which he said should be viewed with skepticism. "I emphasized that this document is not a U.S. Intelligence Community product and that I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC," he said. "The IC has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.