Outgoing Department of National Intelligence chief James Clapper on Thursday took advantage of two openings provided him to send a diplomatic message to Congress — back off, a bit.
Toward the end of the near three-hour Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing on Russia's role in impacting the election, Clapper was twice asked his thoughts about the DNI and its relationship with Congress.
"Unlike many other endeavors of the government . . . virtually all of what we do is done in secrecy," Clapper responded to Sen. John McCain's invitation to opine on the role of Congress and the DNI.
"So the Congress has a very important, a crucial responsibility on behalf of the American people for overseeing what we do, particularly in terms of legality and a protection of privacy," Clapper said to cap the hearing. "At the risk of delving into a sensitive area, I do think there's a difference between oversight and micromanagement."
Just minutes earlier, Clapper was asked if he thought the DNI needed reform.
"There's always room for improvement," Clapper said, again diplomatically.
"I do think it would be useful, though, if we're going to reform or change the DNI or change CIA that some attention be given to, in our case, the legislative underpinnings that established the DNI in the first place and then added additional functions and responsibilities over the years that Congress has added to our bag of duties," Clapper said.
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