He later added that a two-page summary had been included in his briefing because “part of our obligation is to ensure that policymakers are provided with the fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security.”

The confirmation that Clapper had briefed the president-elect on the dossier contradicted statements by incoming White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who told Seth Meyers on Tuesday night that Trump “has said that he is not aware of” having been briefed on its contents. In the same appearance, Conway had reiterated Trump’s assertion that the dossier was leaked by the intelligence community.

“Nothing’s been confirmed,” Conway said to Meyers. “And, I have to say, as an American citizen — regardless of your party and if you don’t like politics at all . . . we should be concerned that intelligence officials leak to the press and won’t go and tell the president-elect or the president of the United States himself, now Mr. Obama, what the information is. They would rather go tell the press. ”