Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he agreed with former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe’s assessment that President Donald Trump could be a Russian asset.

McCabe told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday that the possibility of Trump being a Russian asset was why the FBI signed off on special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible Trump campaign collusion.

“I completely agree with the way Andy characterized it, you know, that it is a possibility,” Clapper commented on Tuesday’s “CNN Tonight.”

“And I will add to that caveat, that whether witting or unwitting,” he told anchor Don Lemon.

Clapper acknowledged that it was “a really painful thing to say,” but that he believed the FBI “was institutionally obligated to do what it did, that is to initiate an investigation” into Trump’s alleged campaign ties to Russia.

“Yeah, I do agree as amazing and stunning and depressing as that is,” he added, circling back to McCabe’s assertion.

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