"This evening, I had the opportunity to speak with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss recent media reports about our briefing last Friday. I expressed my profound dismay at the leaks that have been appearing in the press, and we both agreed that they are extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security."

“Russia's aim wasn't to get anyone to actually believe the crazy stories they were publishing...The point of their influence operation was to overwhelm facts, to sow doubt that facts were even knowable.”

“Looking at the recording of that interview, I again appeared tired. This time, I wasn't tired from working around the clock for months on end. I was tired because my journey of 76 years had led me to a place that should be home, and I'd found that the foundation of that home was beginning to crumble and the pillars that supported its roof were shaking.”

“You have to remember Putin's background. He's a KGB officer. That's what they do. They recruit assets.”

“Of course, the Russian effort affected the outcome. Surprising even themselves, they swung the election to a Trump win. To conclude otherwise stretches logic, common sense, and credulity to the breaking point.”

“If it weren't for President Obama we might not have done the intelligence community assessment that we did that set up a whole sequence of event which are still unfolding today, including Special Counsel Mueller's investigation. President Obama is responsible for that. It was he who tasked us to do that intelligence community assessment in the first place.”

“The Founding Fathers, in their genius, created three co-equal branches of government, and a built-in system of checks and balances, and I feel as though that is under assault, and is eroding.”