Former US official says Russian claims worse than Watergate
Former director of national intelligence James Clapper underlined that the Watergate scandal "pales" in comparison with allegations that President Donald Trump's election campaign colluded with Russians.
- World
- AP
- Published Date: 12:00 | 07 June 2017
- Modified Date: 01:29 | 07 June 2017
A former U.S. intelligence official says the Watergate scandal that brought down a president "pales" in comparison with allegations that President Donald Trump's election campaign colluded with Russians.
James Clapper was director of national intelligence until Trump took office in January. He told Australia's National Press Club on Wednesday that the cover-up of a 1972 burglary at the Democratic Party national headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington that ended Richard Nixon's presidency "was a scary time."
But he says the allegations under multiple investigations of Russian meddling in last year's presidential election are more concerning.
Clapper said: "I think (if) you compare the two that Watergate pales really in my view compared to what we're confronting now."