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Tags: james clapper | william barr | john durham | investigation | election meddling

Clapper: We Shouldn't Lose Sight of Why Russian Probe Started

former director of national intelligence james clapper smiles and speaks into a mic during a congressional appearance
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (AP)

By    |   Tuesday, 14 May 2019 11:15 AM EDT

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper downplayed reports that Attorney General William Barr is taking the first steps to carry out a probe into how the 2016 Russian investigation got started by assigning US Attorney John Durham for the job.

Asked by CNN on Tuesday if such a probe is "warranted," Clapper said, "you're going to have to stand in line and take a number to do an investigation of the investigators."

He added "There is a substantial investigation, which as I understand it, is nearing completion, being conducted by the Justice Department Inspector General. I'd wait for the outcome of that to determine if there needs to be more investigations."

Clapper also emphasized "we're kind of losing sight" of the fact the initial cause of the probe was Russia's interference with U.S. political institutions and their efforts to have contacts with President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

The former director of national intelligence explained, at those initial stages of the investigation, the focus was in figuring out what the Russians were doing, but now, "the message I almost take away from this is, 'well, we should have ignored that.'"

He stressed there "was a profound threat and still is to our electoral system. I wish people would pay more attention to volume I of the Mueller report, the exhaustive detail about what the Russians did. We're losing sight of that."

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Attorney General William Barr is taking the first steps to carry out a probe into how the 2016 Russian investigation got started by assigning US Attorney John Durham for the job, but former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper downplayed the significance.
james clapper, william barr, john durham, investigation, election meddling
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2019-15-14
Tuesday, 14 May 2019 11:15 AM
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