If US intelligence wasn't source of leak, how did CNN learn that Trump had been briefed on it?

Washington Examiner:
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Wednesday reaffirmed to President-elect Trump that although the 35-page dossier that Buzzfeed published on Tuesday has been circulating around the federal government for months, it is not an official intelligence community product and was likely not leaked by intelligence employees.

"I emphasized that this document is not a U.S. Intelligence Community product and that I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC. The IC has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions," Clapper said in a statement.

"I expressed my profound dismay at the leaks that have been appearing in the press, and we both agreed that they are extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security," Clapper added.

Trump "again affirmed" his appreciation for the Intelligence Community and Clapper told him the agencies are working to provide the "fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security."
...
The leak would have to have come from someone who was at the briefing on the matter, regardless of whether the dossier had been circulating around for awhile. because no one else could have known that Trump was briefed on it.   Trump, reportedly did not even tell his staff that he was being briefed.

This is not the first time that the media has reported on what Trump was briefed about by the intelligence agencies.  When he got his first in-person briefing, the Washington Post reported some of its content the next day.

If it was not Clapper responsible for the leaks, it likely had to be someone close to him who knew the subject matter of the briefing.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

29 % of companies say they are unlikely to keep insurance after Obamacare

Bin Laden's concern about Zarqawi's remains