It’s been interesting watching former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper shift his position on whether or not the Trump campaign was spied on over the past year, as new information continues to be released.
When President Donald Trump famously accused former President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower, James Clapper came out to explicitly deny the accusations as nonsense.
“There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president, the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign,” Clapper would say on CNN. Clapper dodged any further questions regarding surveillance at Trump Tower and clearly wanted to veer the subject off of surveillance.
And what he said is *technically* true. No such wiretap activity has been uncovered at Trump Tower – BUT, Clapper’s comments came before it was made public that both Carter Page and Paul Manafort were monitored by the FBI. When that information came to light, Clapper had to concede that it was “certainly conceivable” that Trump was picked up on that surveillance.
Now, in the face of reports that the FBI had an “inside source” within the Trump campaign, essentially proving that Trump was right all along that the FBI was conspiring against him, Clapper is doubling down entirely.
According to the Daily Caller:
Clapper admitted the FBI “may have had someone who was talking to them in the campaign,” referring to President Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. He explained away the possibility of an FBI informant spying on the campaign as the bureau was trying to find out “what the Russians were doing to try to substantiate themselves in the campaign or influence or leverage it.”
Obama’s Director of National Intelligence then went on to say, “So, if there was someone that was observing that sort of thing, that’s a good thing.”
He also stated he believes “it’s hugely dangerous if someone like that is exposed because the danger to that person” and the potential “reluctance of others to be informants for the FBI” could possibly devastate the FBI.
The question remains as to who the source within the Trump campaign was, but we know it’s someone who had U.S. citizenship, worked mainly with foreign intelligence (meaning they probably had dual citizenship), and worked with the FBI and CIA in the past.
One man who meets the description is Stefan Halper, a U.S./U.K. dual citizen with connections to the aforementioned intelligence agencies, plus British intelligence. (RELATED: Rush Limbaugh: ‘I Know Who FBI’s Inside Source Is’).
Halper also met with various Trump campaign members, including Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, both of whom were eventually indicted by the FBI’s counterintelligence probe in the Trump campaign.
It’s particularly interesting that Halper met with Papadopoulos and Page claiming he wanted to help the Trump campaign, because in November 2016 he was quoted as stating that he believes that Hillary Clinton would be the best choice for President. Why was he meeting with members of the Trump campaign then, if not to gather intelligence?
Did the Trump campaign deserved to be spied on, or is Clapper’s claim ridiculous? Share your thoughts with us below!
