Former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) turned CNN commentator James Clapper not only leaked information related to the infamous "Steele dossier" to CNN's Jake Tapper while Clapper was in office - it appears he also lied about it to Congress, under oath.

Clapper was one of the "two national security officials" cited in CNN's report -published minutes after Buzzfeed released the full Steele dossier.

The revelation that Clapper was responsible for leaking details of both the dossier and briefings to two presidents on the matter is significant, because former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey wrote in one of four memos that he leaked that the briefing of Trump on salacious and unverified allegations from the dossier was necessary because “CNN had them and were looking for a news hook.” -The Federalist

So Comey said that Trump needed to be briefed on the Dossier's allegations since CNN "had them" - because James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence at the time, provided that information to the same network he now works for .

And who's idea was it to brief Trump on the dossier? JAMES CLAPPER - according to former FBI Director James Comey's memos:

“I said there was something that Clapper wanted me to speak to the [president-elect] about alone or in a very small group,” Comey wrote.

The revelations detailing Clapper's leak to CNN can be found in a 253-page report by the House Intelligence Committee majority released on Friday - which also found "no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government."

As Sean Davis of The Federalist bluntly states: "Clapper leaked details of a dossier briefing given to then-President-elect Donald Trump to CNN’s Jake Tapper, lied to Congress about the leak, and was rewarded with a CNN contract a few months later."

From Clapper's Congressional testimony:

MR. ROONEY: Did you discuss the dossier or any other intelligence related to Russia hacking of the 2016 election with journalists? MR. CLAPPER: No.

Clapper later changed his tune after he was confronted about his communications with Tapper:

“Clapper subsequently acknowledged discussing the ‘dossier with CNN journalist Jake Tapper,’ and admitted that he might have spoken with other journalists about the same topic,” the report reads. “Clapper’s discussion with Tapper took place in early January 2017, around the time IC leaders briefed President Obama and President-elect Trump, on ‘the Christopher Steele information,’ a two-page summary of which was ‘enclosed in’ the highly-classified version of the ICA,” or intelligence community assessment.

From House Intel Report: “Former DNI James Clapper, now a CNN national security analyst, acknowledged discussing the dossier with CNN journalist Jake Tapper and admitted that he might have spoken with other journalists about the same topic.” Early Jan 2017 https://t.co/adtMqdRsVl pic.twitter.com/mG2y5BFpOr — Nick Short 🇺🇸 (@PoliticalShort) April 27, 2018

As Jack Posobiec adds, "To be clear: CNN's Jake Tapper participated in a leak of highly classified information from James Clapper and knowingly participated in a cover-up of it that has gone on for months, during which time CNN hired Clapper as a paid contributor."

The Daily Caller's Chuck Ross notes that Clapper also denied speaking to the media in a March conversation with CNN's Don Lemon.

In addition to alleged inconsistent testimony about CNN contacts, Clapper falsely denied to Don Lemon last month that he spoke w/ media while still in office. https://t.co/kwgFBz8HTB @dailycaller pic.twitter.com/UP1QTbgoZD — Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) April 27, 2018

And let's not forget, Jake Tapper has been participating in the lie.

Jake Tapper wrote an entire thread on a false statement from Clapper, even when he knew it was false bc he is who Clapper leaked to. CNN is a disgrace pic.twitter.com/CXdZkyuJFP — Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) March 13, 2018

I’m new to this but this seems like a really big deal! Right? https://t.co/EjhYaWd74V — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 27, 2018

Indeed it is Don - as The Federalist's Mollie Hemmingway wrote in January - Comey's account of Trump's briefing on the dossier suggested that it was a setup from the beginning - and that it was only done in order to legitimize the story and justify leaking the unverified and salacious details to journalists.

Let's bring it home with Mollie Hemmingway's summary from January which hits the nail on the head:

So Comey, at Clapper’s expressed behest, told Trump that CNN was “looking for a news hook” to publish dossier allegations. He said this in the briefing of Trump that almost immediately leaked to CNN, which provided them the very news hook they sought and needed. This briefing, and the leaking of it, legitimized the dossier, which touched off the Russia hysteria. That hysteria led to a full-fledged media freakout. During the freakout, Comey deliberately refused to say in public what he acknowledged repeatedly in private — that the President of the United States was not under investigation. He even noted in his memos that he told the president at least three times that he was not under investigation. Comey’s refusal to admit publicly what he kept telling people privately led to his firing. -The Federalist

We look forward to James Clapper talking his way out of this on CNN during carefully scripted conversations with fellow talking heads.