By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Echoing what former acting Attorney General Sally Yates said the other day, ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper tells CNN Monday that President Donald Trump is leading “a very disturbing assault on the independence of the Department of Justice.”
“When the President — this president or any president — tries to use the Department of Justice as kind of a private investigatory body, that’s not good for the country,” Clapper told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
Clapper was reacting to Trump’s demand over the weekend that the Justice Department “look into” whether the FBI or Justice Department planted a spy in his presidential campaign following reports that the bureau dispatched a confidential source to speak with some campaign aides about possible ties to Russia.
Clapper tells CNN the FBI’s use of confidential informants is a “a legitimate activity, an important one, on the part of the FBI. They use informants and have strict rules and protocols on this.”
