CNN’s Clapper: ‘I Don’t Regret’ Hunter Laptop Letter, I Haven’t Seen Proof Russians Didn’t Mess with Laptop

On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN Primetime,” CNN National Security Analyst former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that he doesn’t regret signing on to a letter that incorrectly claimed that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian misinformation and argued “the letter was appropriately caveated, by acknowledging” there was no hard evidence of the Russian misinformation claim. He also asserted, “And, to this day, I still have not seen any official results of a forensic analysis of that laptop as to whether or not, in some way, the Russians messed with it.”

Host Kaitlan Collins asked, “[D]o you regret signing that letter, in the wake of how things have transpired and where things [are] today and how Republicans in Congress are using that letter?”

Clapper responded, “Well, to answer your question, no, I don’t regret it. I thought, at the time, that it was appropriate to sound a warning about, watch out for the dark hand of the Russians. And in my case, this was on the heels of what I saw the Russians do in 2016 to interfere and influence the outcome of our election. So, I thought it was appropriate. I thought the letter was appropriately caveated, by acknowledging we didn’t have any direct evidence. And, to this day, I still have not seen any official results of a forensic analysis of that laptop as to whether or not, in some way, the Russians messed with it.”

Collins then pointed out that there’s no actual proof Russia had anything to do with the laptop, which Clapper acknowledged.

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