Director of National Intelligence James Clapper isn't the most popular guy in Washington these days. Support for reforming bulk surveillance continues to grow. More lawmakers are becoming convinced of the point of view of US Senator Ron Wyden: that Clapper lied to Congress when he denied that "any type of data at all" was being collected "on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans." On Monday, Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) and five other lawmakers sent a letter to President Obama saying Clapper should be fired.

It's unlikely that Clapper's comments today at a hearing of the US Senate Intelligence Committee will quiet things down at all. Clapper reiterated his position that the leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden are continuing to cause "profound damage" to the US security.

"Snowden claims that he’s won and that his mission is accomplished," said Clapper, according to a transcript of today's hearing published by The Washington Post. "If that is so, I call on him and his accomplices to facilitate the return of the remaining stolen documents that have not yet been exposed, to prevent even more damage to US security... The nation is less safe and its people less secure."

The use of the phrase "accomplices" caused several journalists to question who, exactly, Clapper was referring to. "I guess he means us?" tweeted Spencer Ackerman, national security editor at The Guardian.

The Huffington Post was one of several publications that asked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to clarify who exactly Clapper was referring to. An ODNI spokesperson didn't really deny that Clapper was referring to journalists. Instead, he responded that “director Clapper was referring to anyone who is assisting Snowden to further threaten our national security through the unauthorized disclosure of stolen documents related to lawful foreign intelligence collection programs.”

Overall, Clapper mostly stonewalled in today's hearing—leading to frustration for Wyden. "This committee can't do oversight if we can't get direct answers," he said, according to a National Journal report.

The idea that Snowden should "return the documents" or "stop the disclosures" seems to be a continuing demand of some in the US intelligence community, even though Snowden has said that he no longer has the documents. Journalists at The Guardian and The Washington Post who have worked with the Snowden documents have confirmed they are who is actually in control of the timing and publication of stories based on these documents, not Snowden.