Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he spoke Wednesday to Donald Trump seeking to reassure the President-elect that intelligence agencies weren’t the source of news accounts about a private intelligence dossier that was summarized in briefing documents for Trump.
A two-page synopsis laid out uncorroborated allegations by a former British intelligence operative that Russians claimed to have compromising personal and financial information on Trump. The summary was appended to documents prepared for Trump and President Barack Obama as part of briefings on Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
Clapper said in a statement that the summary was included in the briefing documents because “part of our obligation is to ensure that policymakers are provided with the fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security.”
CNN first reported that the two-page summary was part of the briefing papers for both the President and President-elect.
Clapper noted the underlying documents weren’t the work of the US intelligence agencies.
“The (intelligence community) has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions,” Clapper said.
The retiring Clapper, who represents the 17 US intelligence agencies, said Mr. Trump expressed his support for the work of those who work in the intelligence community.