Why Believe Anything Director of National Intelligence Clapper Says?

Yesterday, Director of National
Intelligence James Clapper testified before the Senate Intelligence
Committee about the foreign threats that menace the peace of the
United States. I have no doubt that such threats exist, but why
anyone would trust the way that Clapper would interpret (and
strategically withhold) intelligence about those threats is beyond
me. As all the world knows, Clapper lied last
March in sworn testimony to Congress about the extent of National
Security Agency spying on American citizens.

During the hearing yesterday, NSA critic Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)
began his questioning by stating that Clapper and the NSA had
previously made “misleading
and deceptive statements” in their testimony. Wyden then
added: 

Let me start by saying that the men and women of America’s
intelligence agencies are overwhelmingly dedicated professionals,
and they deserve to have leadership that is trusted by the American
people. Unfortunately, that trust has been seriously undermined by
senior officials’ reckless reliance on secret interpretations of
the law and battered by years of misleading and deceptive
statements that senior officials made to the American people. These
statements did not protect sources and methods that were useful in
fighting terror. Instead, they hid bad policy choices and violation
of the liberties of the American people.

For example, the director of the NSA said publicly that the NSA
doesn’t hold data on U.S. citizens. That was obviously untrue.

Justice Department officials testified that Section 215 of the
Patriot Act is analogous to grand jury subpoena authority, and that
deceptive statement was made on multiple occasions.

Officials also suggested that the NSA doesn’t have the authority
to read Americans’ e-mails without a warrant. But the FISA Court
opinions declassified last August showed that wasn’t true,
either.

Earlier in the week, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)
sent a letter signed by five other congressmen – both
Republican and Democratic – to President Obama asking him to fire
Clapper. The letter read:

The continued role of James Clapper as Director of National
Intelligence is incompatible with the goal of restoring trust in
our security programs and ensuring the highest level of
transparency. Director Clapper continues to hold his position
despite lying to Congress, under oath, about the existence of bulk
data collection programs in March 2013. Asking Director Clapper,
and other federal intelligence officials who misrepresented
programs to Congress and the courts, to report to you on needed
reforms and the future role of government surveillance is not a
credible solution.”

Unfortunately, in a
reply to the letter a spokesperson for President Obama
stated:

The president has full faith in Director Clapper’s leadership of
the intelligence community. The director has provided an
explanation for his answers to Sen. Wyden and made clear that he
did not intend to mislead the Congress.

Not intend to mislead the Congress? That is what happens when
you start lying, you have to keep lying.