Former DNI James Clapper denies Trump Tower wiretap

(Image credit: CNN/Screenshot)

Former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper denied President Trump's allegation that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 election. "If something like that happened, would this be something you would be aware of?" asked NBC News host Chuck Todd.

"I would certainly hope so," Clapper replied. "I can't say — obviously, I'm not — I can't speak officially anymore. But I will say that, for the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw as DNI, there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign."

Clapper noted he couldn't speak to the activities of other government agencies, including those at the local level, but denied all knowledge of a FISA court order targeting Trump Tower. Watch Clapper's comments in context below. Bonnie Kristian

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.