Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has rejected Speaker of the House Paul Ryan's request that he exclude Hillary Clinton from the intelligence briefings provided to party nominees.
Clapper essentially told Ryan that politics has no place in these briefings.
In a letter obtained by CNN, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the speaker that all “officially nominated, eligible” candidates receive those briefings.
"Nominees for president and vice president receive these briefings by virtue of their status as candidates, and do not require separate security clearances before the briefings," Clapper wrote, as quote by CNN. "Briefings for the candidates will be provided on an even-handed non-partisan basis."
Ryan's office has issued a response that is infuriating.
A spokeswoman for Ryan, AshLee Strong, said in a statement that "We obviously disagree with the decision and want to know what precautions will be taken and what assurances the director can give that Secretary Clinton won't mishandle classified information. She has proven herself untrustworthy."
And I would like to know what precautions the Republican party will take and what assurances they can provide that they are not nominating a grifting, racist, pathological liar whose list of most-admired figures includes the likes of Vladimir Putin and Saddam Hussein.
The most egregious part of Ryan's position is that he originally called for former Secretary of State(!) Hillary Clinton to be excluded from intelligence briefings because FBI Director James Comey said she was "careless" with classified information, but we found out the next day that Director Comey got it wrong.
After Director Comey blasted the presence of a small handful of classified emails on Hillary Clinton's email server, the State Department clarified that those emails were marked classified through "human error" and did not actually contain sensitive information. Director Comey was forced to concede that himself during his testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee last week.
To make a long story short -- Speaker Ryan says Hillary Clinton should be excluded from intelligence briefings for no substantiated reason.
Paul Ryan is a political opportunist, a liar, and a piece of shit.