August 24, 2017

Donald Trump Threatens James Clapper Over the Possibility of “Beautiful” Letter

The former director of national intelligence publicly questioned Trump’s fitness for office.

Chris Kleponis/ZUMA

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President Donald Trump appeared to threaten James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, on Thursday with a tweet suggesting he once received a flattering letter written by Clapper, who had earlier this week questioned Trump’s fitness for office.

The attack on Clapper’s credibility follows his appearance on CNN, where he condemned Trump’s volatile rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on Monday. The former intelligence chief also expressed concern over Trump’s control over the country’s nuclear codes—access Clapper described as “pretty damn scary.”

Trump has used Twitter to fire off similar threats against his opponents—instances that have further complicated the president’s legal troubles. In May, shortly after he fired James Comey as FBI director, Trump implied he possessed secret recordings of their conversations inside the White House. Prior to that, Trump made an explosive—and false—claim that during the 2016 election, Barack Obama had illegally ordered a wiretap of his campaign at Trump Tower. 

The president has refused to correct or apologize for either claim.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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