Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before Congress in March 2013 regarding the collection of telephone data of US citizens on US soil. At the time, he denied that the NSA was engaged in such intelligence-gathering. After recent reports about the NSA's broad phone data collection practices, the American public now knows that Director Clapper's testimony before Congress in March was false.
Whether or not Director Clapper subjectively thought he was somehow doing the right thing by lying to Congress, his actions have diminished his credibility and the credibility of the federal government as a whole. Director Clapper's conduct may even have crossed the line into the criminal. But whether or not he committed a crime, he breached the public trust and should be let go.