Trump claims James Clapper ‘admitted’ spy was paid to target his campaign

President Donald Trump continued his war of words with James Clapper on Thursday, claiming former Director of National Intelligence has ‘admitted’ the Obama administration’s Justice Department snooped on his 2016 campaign organization.

Clapper said Wednesday on ‘The View’ that the president should welcome the use of an informant who gathered information about his campaign’s Russia contacts, since the purpose was to gather intelligence about Moscow’s nefarious plans.

Trump, however, is turning that to his advantage. 

‘Clapper has now admitted that there was Spying in my campaign. Large dollars were paid to the Spy, far beyond normal. Starting to look like one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history. SPYGATE – a terrible thing!’ he tweeted.  

President Donald Trump targeted James Clapper, tweeting that the former intelligence chief had ‘admitted’ the Obama administration spied on his 2016 campaign

Clapper, the formerdirector of national intelligence, said Wednesday on 'The View' that Trump should be 'happy' the government was gathering intelligence on his campaign since the purpose was to keep tabs on Moscow's interference

Clapper, the formerdirector of national intelligence, said Wednesday on ‘The View’ that Trump should be ‘happy’ the government was gathering intelligence on his campaign since the purpose was to keep tabs on Moscow’s interference

Trump's Thursday tweet marked the third time he's gone after Clapper since April

Trump’s Thursday tweet marked the third time he’s gone after Clapper since April

It’s the third time in two months the president has gone after the longtime former intelligence official, whom he termed a ‘lying machine’ in an April tweet.

Trump’s attack is a continuation of his Wednesday broadside about ‘spying’ on his campaign, following revelations that the FBI relied on a confidential informant named Stefan Halper who made contact with at least Trump campaign officials thought to have longstanding Russia ties – and with the man who hired them both.

Halper was separately the beneficiary of nearly $1 million in Defense Department contracts, reportedly unrelated to his contacts related to the Trump campaign 

Asked on ‘The View’ whether the government had been spying on Trump, Clapper framed any impact on the president as a sort of collateral damage. 

‘They were spying, a term I don’t particularly like, on what the Russians were doing,’ he said, ‘trying to understand, “Were the Russians infiltrating, trying to gain access, trying to gain leverage and influence?” – which is what they do.’

Clapper added that Trump ‘should be’ happy since the Kremlin is ‘bent on undermining our system.’ He also called the use of informants a ‘fairly benign tool.’

‘No, James Clapper, I am not happy,’ Trump tweeted hours later. ‘Spying on a campaign would be illegal, and a scandal to boot!’

Clapper’s vocal opposition to the president let him to brand him in April as ‘a lying machine who now works for Fake News CNN.’



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