Intelligence Head To Donald Trump: Don't Know About Truth Of Leaked Documents' Claims

President-elect Donald Trump spoke by phone with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper about the documents prepared by a British intelligence official that were leaked to media outlets and the contents of which Trump was briefed on, Trump said Thursday morning.

Their talk occurred after Trump's fiery press conference Wednesday at Trump Tower in which Trump denounced the leaked documents as "fake news." Trump and Clapper shared conflicting accounts about the intelligence community's assessment of the report.

"James Clapper called me yesterday to denounce the false and fictitious report that was illegally circulated," Trump tweeted Thursday morning. "Made up, phony facts. Too bad!"

"I emphasized that this document is not a U.S. Intelligence Community product and that I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC," a statement from Clapper said. "The IC has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions."

Clapper defended the decision to brief Trump on the report, which Clapper said "was widely circulated" among media and lawmakers before the IC became aware of it.

"Part of our obligation is to ensure that policymakers are provided with the fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security," Clapper said.

Clapper said he did not believe the leaks came from within the intelligence community.

"I expressed my profound dismay at the leaks that have been appearing in the press, and we both agreed that they are extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security," Clapper's statement said.

Image via Gage Skidmore, Flickr, used under Creative Commons