(NBC NEWS) Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday and told him the intelligence community did not leak information about an unverified memo that sparked a firestorm of controversy when it was published online.
“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,” Clapper said, referring to the intelligence community. “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.”
The 35-page privately-prepared memorandum published by BuzzFeed on Tuesday includes claims that the Russian government has been cultivating, supporting and assisting Trump for five years, among other allegations. (BuzzFeed is partly funded by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)
