James Clapper Quotes

James Clapper

Profession : Public Servant

Birth : March 14, 1941

The term 'Muslim Brotherhood'... is an umbrella term for a variety of movements: in the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam.

James Clapper

The history of the intelligence community is replete with violations of the trust of the American people.

James Clapper

I think the founding fathers, in their genius, created a system of three co-equal branches of government and a built-in system of checks and balances.

James Clapper

I think the notion of getting the North Koreans to denuclearize is probably a lost cause.

James Clapper

In the end, we will never, ever be able to guarantee that there will not be an Edward Snowden or another Chelsea Manning because this is a large enterprise composed of human beings with all their idiosyncrasies.

James Clapper

This is strictly personal opinion, not company policy, but I do think that we could do with having a USIA on steroids.

James Clapper

What I said was, the NSA does not voyeuristically pore through U.S. citizens' e-mails. I stand by that.

James Clapper

A key player with respect to sanctions is, of course, China. And so, if a military option were to be exercised, then obviously we would play very heavily in that process. But that's not a decision, fortunately, that the intelligence community makes.

James Clapper

I was a part of the decision-making in the Pentagon, when I was the undersecretary for intelligence, to start CYBERCOM, both as a sub-unified command and under a dual-hat arrangement. That was never intended to be permanent in any event.

James Clapper

There is no requirement whatsoever for a security clearance for a candidate. The mere fact that a candidate is anointed by its party at a convention - that is all that is required. And it's not up to me or the administration to determine candidate suitability for these briefings.

James Clapper

I did get a letter from the speaker of the House urging - enjoining me not to brief Secretary Clinton, and lots of cards and letters from people about not briefing Mr. Trump.

James Clapper

When I was commissioned in the Air Force, I was committed to the institution for a career.

James Clapper

I have always accepted intelligence was an honorable profession. We are all mindful of the need to comply with our moral values and the law.

James Clapper

In this job, I've found the less I talk, the better.

James Clapper

ISIL particularly is very slick, very sophisticated, proselytizing and recruiting, and they are very astute users of social media.

James Clapper

The first week in intelligence school, you learn there are only two conditions in life. There is policy success, or there is intel failure. There is no other condition in life.

James Clapper

The number one foreign policy goal of Russia is control of the former Soviet space.

James Clapper

The country of Iraq is somewhat of an artificial creation going back to colonial days. And so you have the Kurds and then the Sunnis in the north predominantly and Shias in the south.

James Clapper

If ISIL were to substantially increase the priority it places on attacking the West rather than fighting to maintain and expand territorial control, then the group's access to radicalized Westerners who have fought in Syria and Iraq would provide a pool of operatives who potentially have access to the United States and other Western countries.

James Clapper

The Russians have a long history of interfering in elections - theirs and other people's.

James Clapper