Judicial Watch is taking on CNN and former DNI Chief James Clapper in a new lawsuit.
Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch announced this week it filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the CIA seeking records of communications between former DNI Chief James Clapper, former CIA Chief John Brennan and CNN around the time the Hillary-funded Russia dossier was being pitched to key media outlets.
In March of 2018, Republicans on the House Intel Committee released a report that detailed James Clapper leaked information about a dossier briefing to then-President-elect Donald Trump to CNN in January of 2017.
Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch v. Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Central Intelligence Agency (No. 1:19-cv-00776)) after the agencies failed to respond to an April 23, 2018 FOIA request seeking:
All records of communication, including emails (whether on .gov or non-.gov email accounts), text messages and instant chats, between officials in the office of the Director of National Intelligence, including but not limited to James Clapper, and employees, representatives and contractors of CNN.
The time frame for the records request is May 2016 through May 2017.
All records of communications between the office of the Director of Central Intelligence and representatives of CNN; DCI John Brennan and DNI James Clapper regarding the collection of memos known as the “Steele Dossier:” and between DCI John Brennan and DNI James Clapper regarding CNN.
All records of communication, including emails (whether on .gov or non-.gov email accounts), text messages and instant chats, between officials in the office of the Director of Central Intelligence, including but not limited to DCI John Brennan, and employees, representatives and contractors of CNN. The time frame for the requested records is May 2016 through May 2017.
All records of communication, including emails (whether on .gov or non-.gov email accounts), text messages and instant chats, between DCI John Brennan and DNI James Clapper regarding the collection of memos known as the “Steele Dossier”. The time frame for records requested in this bullet item is May 2016 through January 2017.
All records of communication, including emails (whether on .gov or non-.gov email accounts), text messages and instant chats, between DCI John Brennan and DNI James Clapper regarding the news network CNN. The time frame for records requested in this bullet item is May 2016 through January 2017.
A declassified House Intel report revealed James Clapper lied about a dossier briefing leak to CNN — The Deep State was looking for a “news hook” to get the ball rolling on the fake dossier.
“Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, now a CNN national security analyst, provided inconsistent testimony to the Committee about his contacts with the media, including CNN.” And, “when questioned by the Committee … Clapper admitted that he confirmed the existence of the dossier to the media,” the House Intel report said of Clapper’s leaks.
Clapper later admitted he discussed the Hillary-funded Steele dossier with CNN’s Jake Tapper and other reporters in early 2017, shortly before President Trump’s inauguration.
The January 10, 2017 CNN story about Trump being briefed on the dossier, authored by Jake Tapper, Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto and Carl Bernstein (and leaked by Clapper) was the “news hook” that Buzzfeed needed to go ahead and publish the full 35-page dossier.
Brennan also said in 2018 TV interviews that the Steele dossier did not make its way into Intel assessments of Russia’s interference into the 2016 election.
John Brennan said during a February 2018 appearance on “Meet the Press” that he learned about the dossier in December of 2016 and that “it did not play any role whatsoever in the intelligence community assessment that was done that was presented to then-President Obama and then-President elect Trump.”
Senator Rand Paul outed Brennan this week claiming the former CIA Chief insisted the unverified Steele dossier be included in the Intel report.
BREAKING: A high-level source tells me it was Brennan who insisted that the unverified and fake Steele dossier be included in the Intelligence Report… Brennan should be asked to testify under oath in Congress ASAP.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 27, 2019
“Judicial Watch is again in court trying to get the truth about the Obama gang illegal leaks and conspiracy targeting President Trump,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “Clapper and Brennan were key proponents of the big lie, exposed by the Mueller report, that President Trump colluded with the Russians. Judicial Watch FOIA litigation is the best hope for getting full accountability on this attack on our constitutional republic.”
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