Trump calls James Clapper ‘a lying machine’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has called former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper “a lying machine,” after it was revealed that Clapper may have misled Congress over his contact with the media about a private intelligence report during his tenure.

Trump said in a Twitter post on Saturday that Clapper “is a lying machine, who now works for Fake News CNN.”

“Clapper lied about (fraudulent) Dossier leaks to CNN’ @foxandfriends FoxNews,” he wrote.

The president made the remarks after a House Intelligence Committee report revealed on Friday that Clapper had spoken to CNN about the intelligence report, known as Steele Dossier, during his time serving in the administration of former president Barack Obama. That contradicts Clapper’s statement in an interview with CNN, back in March, when he claimed that he did not interact with the media about the dossier prior to leaving his position.

The dossier, compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, contains unverified allegations about collusion between Trump presidential campaign and Russia. The House Intelligence Committee also announced the end of its Russia investigation on Friday. It said that there was “no evidence” regarding alleged collusion between Russia and Trump’s campaign in the 2016 presidential election.