Former national intelligence director James Clapper refuted assertions made by Vice President Mike Pence, saying "it stretches credulity" to minimize the impact of Russia's interference on the election.
Clapper made the comments Thursday on NPR's "Morning Edition" program when asked to respond to Pence's comments the day before that none of Russia's efforts had an effect on the election.
"I have great respect for Vice President Pence, but in this case, I must respectfully disagree," Clapper told NPR.
Clapper rebuked Pence a bit for being disingenuous about what the intelligence community reported last year, which was this — there was nothing nefarious done to voting machines in the country.
Voter's minds, on the other hand, are a different story, Clapper said, emphasizing that the intelligence community is not in a position to render official opinions about that impact.
"The intelligence community has neither the authority nor the capability to make such a judgment as to whether there was or was not impact on the election," Clapper said. "And we did not say that.
"I will say, now that I'm not in an official position, that it stretches credulity, given the magnitude, scope and depth of the Russian efforts, that they didn't have impact on individual voter decisions," Clapper said. "But again, the intelligence community did not and could not gauge the impact on individual voter decisions."
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