During James Clapper’s testimony WikiLeaks came up to which Clapper quickly denounces as Russian propaganda and not legitimate. When asked if he believes the source to be “a knock propaganda platform for Russia”, he responded “Absolutely” further stating it’s a “non-nation state intelligence service”.
Sasse continued his line of questioning by asking if Wikileaks founder Julian Assange could be considered a journalist, because to some people “[Wikileaks] sounds like it’s just information.”
“It’s useful for the American people to hear you explain why is Assange something other than just an American journalist asking hard questions,” the senator stated.
“When a journalist does harm to the country, harms our national security, compromises sensitive sources and methods and tradecraft…that’s a red line…that I think he is unacceptable,” Clapper concluded.