James Clapper: 'Would not have been appropriate' for me to warn candidate Trump about Russian interference

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Capitol Hill. (Reuters)

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he believes it would have been inappropriate for him to speak to then-candidate Donald Trump about Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

“It wasn’t my place to do that,” Clapper said during a Friday interview with "The Chris Stigall Show." “I was reporting to the then-government, the executive branch policymakers. But for me to pick up the phone and call a political candidate would not have been appropriate.”

Trump has criticized the FBI and Justice Department under the Obama administration for embedding a spy in his campaign during the 2016 election as the probe into Russian meddling was going on.

The confidential informant, identified as Stefan Halper, met with three Trump campaign advisers.

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