Sen. Ron Wyden Calls Out Clapper: He ‘Needs to Stop Making Excuses for Lying to the American People’
After former National Security Agency Director James Clapper stated on Tuesday he did not lie to Congress about the mass domestic surveillance programs in 2013, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said he needs to stop lying.
“As far as the comment, the allegation about my lying, I didn’t lie, I made a big mistake and I just simply didn’t understand what I was being asked about,” Clapper told CNN’s John Berman. “I thought of another surveillance program, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when I was being asked about Section 215 of the Patriot Act at the time, I just didn’t understand that.”
In response, Wyden explained not only did he send the question to Clapper in advance, but he also gave him the chance to correct the record:
James Clapper needs to stop making excuses for lying to the American people about mass surveillance. To be clear: I sent him the question in advance. I asked him to correct the record afterward. He chose to let the lie stand. https://t.co/i6jls7I9Em
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) March 6, 2019
When intelligence leaders mislead the public about surveillance, they fuel the cynicism and mistrust of government that lets wannabe authoritarians gain power.
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) March 6, 2019
During the same interview, Clapper admitted the intelligence community “may have oversold” the mass surveillance program “because, you know, we were hard-pressed to point out to a specific case in point.”
You can watch their exchange from the 2013 hearing in question here:
