WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The report studied allegations that CENTCOM manipulated intelligence reports and public statements on the fight against Daesh terrorist group. The task force has determined that CENTCOM leaders portrayed events on the ground as being more positive than they actually were.
"The CENTCOM Director of Intelligence or his deputy had, and continue to have, secure teleconferences with the Joint Staff Director of Intelligence and senior ODNI [Office of the Director of National Intelligence] leaders — frequently including the Director of National Intelligence (DNI)," the report said.
"The frequency of these interactions could have provided CENTCOM leaders with outsized influence on the material presented to the President outside of formal coordination channels," the report said.
The task force highlighted that the frequent calls contradict the statement Clapper has previously made during his testimony to Congress.
"These frequent interactions are at odds with the DNI James Clapper’s testimony to Congress that ‘intelligence assessments from CENTCOM…come to the national level only through the Defense Intelligence Agency,’" the report stated.
The House Joint Task Force along with the US Department of Defense is continuing to investigate the whistleblower allegations, and the findings are only preliminary, the report stated.
