Hi, this is Josh Marshall, and this is the Josh Marshall podcast.

Today we're going to be speaking to someone who you've probably seen on television a good deal in the last couple years,

much less before that, although he was a very high-ranking government official.

James Clapper, General James Clapper, who was the Director of National Intelligence for most

of President Obama's tenure, and after he left office has become a fairly ubiquitous commentator on the country's current situation on President Trump on the Trump Russia investigation.

Some of that is because he's one of the most experienced US military intelligence officials of

our era. He is a notch older than most of the intelligence, the sort of the

senior intelligence officials who were in place during the 2016 election.

If you look at John Brennan, John Brennan is relatively young man.

I think he's 62 or 63 years old. James Clapper is I believe now 77.

So someone who with an experience years in service

that goes back significantly further

than a lot of these other people.

Obviously one of the reasons that he is so in demand as a commentator now is he is one of the very few people, probably a half dozen people who during the 2016 election, which we are as a country or many, I think

as a country in many ways obsessed with in the way that the country was retrospectively

and for very understandable reason obsessed with 9-11.

How did it happen?

Why did it happen?

How do we prevent it happening again?

The country remains obsessed with the 2016 election. And he is one of maybe half a dozen people

who was in a position as the 2016 was unfolding as the Russian interference campaign was coming into view.

He was in a position to know everything the US government knew and knows.

...