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Clapper tells Senate the NSA does not 'wittingly' collect data on millions of Americans

On 12 March 2013 Director of National Intelligence James Clapper answered 'No, sir… not wittingly' when Senator Ron Wyden asked whether the NSA collects any type of data on millions of Americans. Snowden's disclosures three months later showed bulk collection of Americans' phone records; Clapper later called his answer the 'least untruthful' one.

James Clapper (Wikimedia Commons portrait; person avatar reused as fact cover, land-pack1 pattern).

Sources: [1][2]

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On 12 March 2013 Director of National Intelligence James Clapper answered 'No, sir… not wittingly' when Senator Ron Wyden asked whether the NSA collects any type of data on millions of Americans. Snowden's disclosures three months later showed bulk collection of Americans' phone records; Clapper later called his answer the 'least untruthful' one.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • James Clapper

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    verified

    Clapper tells Senate the NSA does not 'wittingly' collect data on millions of Americans. Actor role on this event; contribution size permanently_blocked (no sourced fraction). Contribution size is permanently_blocked (no sourced fraction); provisional 0.4 stored because contributions.size is NOT NULL.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

No public driver impacts are listed for this fact.

Evidence

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Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.wired.comchecked 2026-10-15 GET 200, keywords: clapper+wittingly+wyden · verified
  2. 2.theguardian.comchecked 2026-10-15 GET 200, keywords: clapper+wittingly+wyden · verified

Causal path

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No causal path is recorded: this fact is not linked to a driver.

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Clapper tells Senate the NSA does not 'wittingly' collect data on millions of Americans. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/clapper-not-wittingly-senate-testimony-2013-03-12

https://factrail.ai/facts/clapper-not-wittingly-senate-testimony-2013-03-12

Accessed 15 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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