--- description: Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said there was no wiretap of Trump Tower during the election title: Former U.S. Intelligence Chief James Clapper Denies Wiretap of Trump Tower image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c54b595104ddef6/6988bd057cdbac8fe5d575a9/james-clapper.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Former U.S. Intelligence Chief James Clapper Denies Wiretap of Trump Tower by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Mar 5, 2017 4:22 PM CUT  Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan (L-R) testify before the Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill January 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan (L-R) testify before the Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill January 10, 2017 in Washington, DC.Joe Raedle—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Mar 5, 2017 4:22 PM CUT Former Director of National Intelligence [James Clapper](http://time.com/4632743/james-clapper-donald-trump-russia/ "undefined") denied in an interview Sunday President Trump’s claims that there was a court-ordered wiretap of Trump Tower prior to the 2016 election. Clapper, who served as the head of the intelligence agency under former President Barack Obama, said he would have known about a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Act (FISA) order if one existed, he told [NBC’s _Meet the Press_](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/former-dni-james-clapper-i-can-deny-wiretap-trump-tower-n729261 "undefined"). “There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president, the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign,” Clapper told NBC’s Chuck Todd. Todd pressed him to confirm or deny the President’s claims. “I can deny it,” Clapper said. > [](https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/838400609506058240) Clapper said he would “certainly hope” that he and his agency would have been in the loop about a FISA order, though he added, “I can’t speak for other authorized entities in the government or a state or local entity.” His comments followed Trump’s allegations in a series of tweets Saturday that Obama had bypassed a court rejection to [wiretap Trump Tower](http://time.com/4691226/barack-obama-president-donald-trump-wiretap/ "undefined"). The White House on Sunday [demanded](http://time.com/4691279/white-house-trump-obama-wire-tap/ "undefined") Congress probe whether Obama abused executive branch powers during the 2016 election. Obama has denied the accusation and said through a spokesman that Trump’s claim was “simply false.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4691286/james-clapper-donald-trump-barack-obama-wire-tap/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4691286/james-clapper-donald-trump-barack-obama-wire-tap/"},"headline":"Former U.S. Intelligence Chief James Clapper Denies Wiretap of Trump Tower","datePublished":"2017-03-05T16:22:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:40:09.944Z","description":"\"I can deny it\"","url":"https://time.com/4691286/james-clapper-donald-trump-barack-obama-wire-tap/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c54b595104ddef6/6988bd057cdbac8fe5d575a9/james-clapper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c54b595104ddef6/6988bd057cdbac8fe5d575a9/james-clapper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Top Intelligence Officials Testify To Senate Committee On Hacking By Russia","caption":"Top Intelligence Officials Testify To Senate Committee On Hacking By Russia","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4691286/james-clapper-donald-trump-barack-obama-wire-tap/","name":"Former U.S. Intelligence Chief James Clapper Denies Wiretap of Trump Tower"}}]}] ```