Former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper, who resigned at the end of the Obama administration, was allegedly caught lying about leaking the Steele dossier to CNN, according to a report by the House Intelligence Committee.
Clapper reportedly admitted during a July 2017 deposition he leaked the dossier in early Jan. 2017 with CNN’s Jake Tapper, who will moderate Thursday’s first 2024 presidential debate, according to RealClearInvestigations.
The report states Clapper initially “flatly denied ‘discuss[ing] the dossier [compiled by Steele] or any other intelligence related to Russia hacking of the 2016 election with journalists.” However, the former DNI eventually “acknowledged discussing the ‘dossier with CNN journalist Jake Tapper’” upon further questioning, according to the outlet.
CNN published Tapper’s now-debunked Steele dossier story on Jan. 10, 2017, which secured him the Merriman Smith Award for broadcast journalism in 2018. Tapper has yet to correct the record regarding the false allegations he peddled accusing presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of colluding with Russia to win the 2016 election.