Former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper’s name has been removed from a military installation, The Daily Caller exclusively learned.
The military auditorium once displaying his name, located at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) headquarters at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, is now called “Thomas Knowlton Leadership Hall.” It was previously called “Clapper Leadership Hall.”
Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez told the outlet, “The Thomas Knowlton Leadership Hall at Defense Intelligence Agency headquarters honors a true American warrior whose legacy is inseparable from the birth of our nation’s intelligence profession.”
“Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton was selected by General George Washington in 1776 to form Knowlton’s Rangers, which was America’s first organized military intelligence unit tasked with reconnaissance and gathering critical intelligence behind enemy lines,” Valdez continued. “We are excited to have his name as a permanent fixture at the DIA.”
Clapper, who resigned as DNI in 2016, has been accused of lying to Congress. Last year, then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released emails that place Clapper at the center of the Obama-era intelligence report aiming to link President Donald Trump with Russia.
In 2016, then-National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers expressed concern that the intelligence community was not “fully comfortable saying that they have had enough time to review all of the intelligence to be absolutely confident in their assessments.”
Clapper responded by saying that officials “may have to compromise on our ‘normal’ modalities,” noting “more time is not negotiable.”
“This is one project that has to be a team sport,” Clapper added.
