Steve Cortes, president of the League of American Workers, said on April 14 that ‘Clapper is a liar and criminal’ in response to congressional testimony by intelligence officials regarding National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance of Americans and related accountability issues.
The statement was made as part of an ongoing discussion about intelligence community disclosures to lawmakers concerning surveillance activities. The topic has drawn attention due to concerns over privacy, government transparency, and oversight mechanisms for intelligence operations.
“He perjured himself under oath, testifying falsely that his NSA wants spying on Americans. Even the Democrats admit this crime, for which he was never held accountable.” Cortes made the statement on X in response to a video clip discussing Clapper’s comments on the 2019 whistleblower complaint against Trump. The post also referenced Clapper’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in response to questions from Sen. Ron Wyden about whether the NSA collects any type of data on Americans. The context involved ongoing discussions of intelligence community disclosures to lawmakers on surveillance activities.
According to the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), the NSA collected telephone metadata on over 19 million different phone numbers through its call detail records program during late 2018. It operated under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. This included records from individuals not suspected of any crime and operated under a broad interpretation that encompassed nearly all phone records from major telecom companies.
According to an analysis by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), bulk telephony metadata collection began in 2006 and continued for years by gathering daily records from major telecom companies. These data included call details for hundreds of millions of Americans and were stored for up to five years. While subject to oversight by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, lawmakers reviewed its role in identifying terrorist activity through authorized queries.
Cortes founded the League of American Workers in 2022. He has served as a senior political advisor and spokesman for CatholicVote, advised Republican campaigns, and previously worked in financial markets, prior to entering political advocacy, according to Key Speakers.
