To say that former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Director James Clapper has a credibility problem would be an understatement. Yet, the mainstream media and President Donald Trump’s Democratic Party opponents are blindly believing everything that Clapper utters without any direct challenges to his past fibs.
Trump generated headlines worldwide when he sent out a tweet claiming that he was “wiretapped” by the previous administration. Without providing any proof to back up his allegations, the media hound dogs - CNN, ABC and The New York Times - went into overdrive attempting to dismiss the accusations as nothing more than a fabrication of the president’s imagination. However, as is always the case with Trump’s tweets, there is some truth to it.
Over the past month, the media’s go-to public official on this matter has been Clapper.
Speaking in an interview with NBC host Chuck Todd in March, Clapper confirmed that no such wiretap activity had taken place against Trump or his campaign aides. He told Todd:
I will say that the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw — the DNI — there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president, the president-elect at that time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign.
When asked if he can confirm or deny that such a wiretap ever existed or if a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) warrant was ever issued, Clapper responded:
I can deny it.
Since that interview, Trump’s famous wiretap tweet is gradually gaining credence. Reports suggest that former National Security Advisor Susan Rice had unmasked the names of Trump officials – she has repeatedly revised her answer over the last two weeks. If there is mounting evidence of Trump surveillance then Clapper’s remarks should once again be scrutinized, and his credibility shattered.
Despite his history of mistakes, the media did not probe further. As soon as Clapper espoused “I can deny it,” the media gave themselves a pat on the back and informed their viewers that Trump was wrong because Clapper said so.
What the “Meet the Press” host failed to mention to his viewers was the fact that Clapper had told one of the biggest lies of 2013 to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Three months prior to the historic revelations that the U.S. government committed one of the largest breaches of the right to privacy in the nation’s history, Clapper denied that the National Security Agency (NSA) had ever spied on the American people.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked Clapper in March 2013 if the NSA collected “any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans.” Clapper, rubbing his forehead and looking at the desk, answered:
No, sir. Not wittingly.
This turned out to be a lie, according to the documents leaked by Edward Snowden. It was revealed that the U.S. intelligence agency conducted data-mining operations that collected citizens’ information.
In January 2017, Clapper testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Russian government influenced the 2016 presidential election by employing the methods of fake news, propaganda and misinformation. He further noted that Russia’s involvement in the U.S. democratic process has since continued in the wake of the election. Clapper event went as far as declaring this as an “act of war.” He testified to the committee:
This was a multifaceted campaign. So the hacking was only one part of it, and it also entailed classical propaganda, disinformation, fake news.
Once again, without expressing any doubt, the mainstream media and the Democratic Party believed Clapper. Why? Because Clapper’s viewpoint undermines the Trump administration and establishes reservations pertaining to the president’s legitimacy. Although there has been very little evidence put forward by anybody about Moscow interference and Trump-Russia collusion, the media have maintained this narrative, and will likely continue to do so for the next four years.
CNN’s editor-at-large Chris Cillizza wrote an op-ed on Wednesday entitled “How Rand Paul suddenly became Donald Trump's best buddy.” Cillizza, attempting to debunk Trump and chastise Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) for siding with the president in his crusade against the surveillance state, alluded to Clapper as definitive proof:
It's worth noting here that Paul's conflations aren't, well, accurate. We know from Clapper that no FISA order for the wire-tapping of Trump Tower exists…
The senator was one of the first to come out and showcase his incredulity about Clapper’s January testimony.
The same officials and agencies that would have generated skepticism among the left during the Bush administration are now being championed as individuals of honor and integrity. History has shown that the likes of Clapper will lie under oath for political expediency. The U.S. intelligence community has failed on numerous occasions, and its line of work is specializing in deception.
It is true that the media hates Trump, but their partisan behavior is excusing the intelligence community’s own odious escapades. The public is beginning to wake up to the media’s agenda. According to a September 2016 Gallup poll, trust in the mainstream media is at an all-time low. According to a new Gallup poll released on Thursday, 62% of Americans see partisan bias in the news media.
With this blind faith in intelligence officials, the media lose credibility with each passing day.
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