Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday that he can’t “recall” why he made three separate requests to unmask President Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
John Berman, host of CNN’s “New Day,” asked Clapper why he made the requests to unmask the name of an individual on December 2, December 28 and January 7.
https://twitter.com/BruceChambers/status/1260938650646466563
Why Did James Clapper Make the Requests?
Did Clapper remember why?
“No, I don’t,” Clapper told Berman. “I don’t recall what prompted a request that was made on my behalf for unmasking. I don’t remember the specifics or what it was in the second report that was suggestive enough that I was concerned and felt that I should know who was actually involved.”
A ‘general concern about the number of engagements with Russians’
He added, concerning Flynn, “There was general concern about the number of engagements with Russians that we were seeing happening. We may not necessarily have known what the content of these engagements were, but there were numerous engagements by representatives of the Trump camp with Russians. So, that was of… general concern anyway.”
“So that, I think, is what attracted the attention of me and other then-serving national security officials,” Clapper said.
RELATED: List Of Obama Officials Who ‘Unmasked’ General Flynn Has Been Declassified
https://twitter.com/SueLST325/status/1260959251037642753
Claims He Never Saw Any Evidence of Collusion
Clapper reiterated that he never saw any evidence of collusion between Trump, Flynn or any other Trump officials, but did believe there was enough of a threat to national security that there was reason to unmask.
“There could have been, as I say, other reasons why you would unmask,” Clapper said. “Again, when you read the report, it may not tell you what exactly is going on, so whether it was collusion or what, what you’re trying to determine [is] does this pose a threat to national security?”