Posted on 07/02/2013 2:02:32 PM PDT by jazusamo
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has apologized for a “clearly erroneous” statement he made to Congress over the National Security Agency’s surveillance activity.
In a letter to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released publicly on Tuesday, Clapper said he was mistaken when he told Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) that the United States did not collect data on millions of Americans.
“My response was clearly erroneous — for which I apologize,” Clapper wrote in the letter dated June 21.
“While my staff acknowledged the error to Senator Wyden’s staff soon after the hearing, I can now openly correct it because the existence of the metadata collection program has been declassified,” Clapper said.
Clapper's statements at the March 12 Senate hearing have received enormous scrutiny ever since news stories revealed the NSA's telephone and Internet surveillance programs last month.
Clapper directly contradicted those stories in his comments on March 12.
"Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" Wyden asked the intelligence director at the hearing.
"No, sir,” Clapper replied.
"There are cases where they could inadvertently perhaps collect, but not wittingly," he added.
Members of Congress, particularly Wyden, had criticized Clapper since the NSA programs became public, and he has been under pressure to offer an apology. His letter was posted on the DNI website on Tuesday.
Clapper said he was writing in part because of the "charged rhetoric and heated controversy" over his response, so he could "set the record straight."
Clapper wrote to Feinstein that he has “thought long and hard to re-create what went through my mind at the time.”
He said that he was faced with the challenge of giving an unclassified answer about intelligence activities, and he said he “simply didn’t think of Section 215 of the Patriot Act,” which contains provisions on the metadata collection detailed in the Guardian stories.
”Instead, my answer focused on the collection of the content of communications,’ he wrote, saying he was thinking about Section 702 of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the NSA to collect information on people reasonably believed to be outside the United States.
“That is why I added a comment about ‘inadvertent’ collection of U.S. person information, because that is what happens under Section 702 even though it is targeted at foreigners.”
” Good thing John Boehner is a man of action who won’t be made a fool of.....”
ROTFLMAO!!
When do we hear his penalty for lying to Congress!
Evidently Bill Clinton set a precedent and anyone can lie
for any reason.
Most interesting, thanks.
I keep thinking about Hillary Clinton accusing Gen. Paetraus of lying in his report to the Senate committee on Afghanistan. She said”I have a hard time suspending my disbelief.......”.
Then we have a NSA director, clearly intentionally lying, and the lefttard Senators just gloss it over.
People need to start going to jail.
If he perjured himself he needs to answer for it.
My point is, they have closed door hearings when they discuss classified information. He should not have answered in a public forum.
While our intel agencies obviously need oversight, there are some things you don’t want in print that your enemies can read for the price of a morning newspaper.
Too bad Scooter Libby didn’t just apologize.
Pray for America to Wake Up
( With apologies to Jack Webb)
LOL! Good one.
People like Clapper need to start getting long stays in the Grey Rock Hotel. Soonest.
NO, you lying sack of sh**, you now admit you lied as the program was exposed to the public!
Whatever, Edward Snowden is or does in the future, he at least has exposed what our government has been willing to do to its own people, regardless of their reasons!
The ends do NOT justify the means - not now, not ever!
Good point.these assholes think Iam sorry will cleanse them of their crime
I suppose you could always crawl into a 
Snow den....
Clap on!
Clap off!
The Clapper!
Satire? You can’t really tell these days...
When I saw that article, I had to see if the source was The Onion.
I find it hard to believe that someone in government would apologize for anything.
All these guys have forgotten that it’s not just lying to Congress, it’s lying to us, his employers and the people he swore to serve.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence are surely rolling over in their graves with such cowards as do we have.
Would be nice if a grass roots campaign of like minded individuals would contact their representative and DEMAND jail time!
If we do not, it will never stop! We must start sending most of Washington to jail for long terms if we are ever going to return to a government of the people.
I’ll do my part, will you do yours?
Perjury is just for Republicans.....TWO AMERICAS!!!!
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