US Spy Chief’s ‘Highly Unusual’ Reported Contact With Military Official Raises Concerns

James Clapper testifies about ‘worldwide cyber threats’ during a hearing on Thursday in Washington. (photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

 

Spencer Ackerman | Guardian UK | Reader Supported News | September 11, 2015

 

James Clapper said to have frequent communication with military official who is said to be implicated in a Pentagon inquiry into manipulated intelligence

 

arack Obama’s intelligence chief is said to be in frequent and unusual contact with a military intelligence officer at the center of a growing scandal over rosy portrayals of the war against the Islamic State, the Guardian has learned.

James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, is said to talk nearly every day with the head of US Central Command’s intelligence wing, Army Brigadier General Steven Grove – “which is highly, highly unusual”, according to a former intelligence official.

Grove is said to be implicated in a Pentagon inquiry into manipulated war intelligence.

In communications, Clapper, who is far more senior than Grove, is said to tell Grove how the war looks from his vantage point, and question Grove about Central Command’s assessments. Such a situation could place inherent pressure on a subordinate, sources said.

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James Clapper Should Be Fired—And Prosecuted

David Sirota | Salon | AlterNet | June 12, 2013

When introducing James Clapper as his Director of National Intelligence in 2010, President Obama specifically  justified the appointment by saying Clapper is someone who “understands the importance of working with our partners in Congress (and) not merely to appear when summoned, but to keep Congress informed.” At the time, it seemed like a wholly uncontroversial statement – it was simply a president making a sacrosanct promise to keep the legislative branch informed, with the insinuation that previous administrations hadn’t.

Three years later, of course, James Clapper is now the embodiment of perjury before Congress. Indeed, when you couple Edward Snowden’s disclosures with the video of Clapper’s Senate testimony denying that the National Security Administration collects “any type of data on millions (of Americans),” Clapper has become American history’s most explicit and verifiable example of an executive branch deliberately lying to the legislative branch that is supposed to be overseeing it.

Incredibly (or, alas, maybe not so incredibly anymore) despite the president’s original explicit promises about Clapper, transparency and Congress, the White House is nonetheless responding to this humiliating situation by  proudly expressing its full support for Clapper. Meanwhile, as of today’s announcement by  U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), the demands for Clapper’s resignation are finally being aired on Capitol Hill.

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