US intelligence chief James Clapper to step down

Washington: The US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he will leave the post on January 20, 2017, when President Barack Obama hands over the White House to Donald Trump.

"I submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good," the 75-year-old Clapper said on Thursday during an appearance before the House of Representatives Select Committee on Intelligence, Efe news reported

"I got 64 days left and I think I`d have a hard time with my wife anything past that," he said.

The retired Air Force Lieutenant general signaled some time ago that he was ready to leave the government.

Clapper initially stepped away from public life in 1995, but returned to the national security sector following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Obama named him to the post of Director of National Intelligence in 2010.