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Nov. 17, 2016, 2:54 PM GMT / Updated Nov. 18, 2016, 12:09 AM GMT By Ken Dilanian and Corky Siemaszko

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper delivered some reassurance Thursday to Americans worried about the Trump transition — along with his resignation.

"I know a lot of people have been feeling uncertain about what will happen with this Presidential transition," Clapper said. "There has been a lot of catastrophizing, if I can use that term, in the 24-hour news cycle and social media. So, I'm here with a message: It will be okay."

The exit of Clapper, who submitted his resignation Wednesday evening, is not a surprise.

In interviews with NBC News over the last year, Clapper said he was counting down the days to stepping down at the end of President Obama's final term in office. He started as a young intelligence officer reporting to his father during the Vietnam War and said that after than 50 years of service it was time to go.

Clapper's resignation, which is effective Jan. 17, comes as the Trump team has been struggling to put together a cabinet and mulling what's likely to be a change in national security direction once Obama departs.

In testimony to the House Select Intelligence Committee, Clapper said submitting the resignation "felt pretty good."

But soon it was back to politics. And Clapper found himself fielding a question from Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat, about FBI director James Comey's sudden announcement — in the final days of the presidential campaign — that he was reopening an investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.

Calling Comey's move an "unprecedented intrusion by a director within our own intelligence community in our democratic process," Castro asked Clapper if "you believe that Director Comey breached any protocol."

"I have no reason to question Director Comey," Clapper replied. "I think extremely highly of him so whatever actions he took he did so what he felt was best and I have no basis for questioning him."

Clapper's job is to oversee Comey's FBI and 16 other intelligence agencies, including the CIA, NSA (National Security Agency) and the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration).

Appointed by Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2010, Clapper's tenure in office was marked by high profile showdowns over the government's desire to protect its Americans and citizens' civil liberties.

During a tense March 2013 exchange with Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden over whether the NSA gathers “any type of data at all on millions of Americans," Clapper responded "no" and "not wittingly."

Then in June of that year, The Guardian published documents leaked by whistle blower Edward Snowden, including a top secret court order showing that the NSA had collected phone records from over 120 million subscribers.

Snowden later told Wired magazine that it was Clapper's testimony that prompted him to leak the documents.

In a 2013 interview with Andrea Mitchell, Clapper said he gave the “least untruthful” response to a complicated question. But Wyden, a Democrat, accused Clapper of "not giving a straight answer." And Rep. Justin Amash, a Michigan Republican, flat-out accused Clapper of committing perjury.

Clapper later suffered the indignity of having his own personal accounts hacked by a hacker named "Cracka."

In October, Clapper’s office released a statement claiming Russia was directly involved in a cyber campaign designed to disrupt the presidential election. It said the operation was likely approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Despite having been personally briefed by U.S. officials on Russia's role in the hacks, Trump during one of the debates said he didn't know if Moscow was behind the hacking and insisted it "could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK?"

In a statement, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) praised Clapper's leadership, saying he "provided steady leadership for the Intelligence Community and wise counsel to the President and the Congress."</s>The United States’ intelligence chief James Clapper has resigned ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.

He told a hearing of the House intelligence committee on Thursday that he had submitted his resignation on Wednesday night and felt “pretty good” about it.

“I submitted my letter of resignation last night which felt pretty good. I’ve got 64 days left,” he said

His resignation, which comes as Mr Trump is carrying out his transitional meetings, is one of the first from president Obama’s administration.

Clapper assumed office in August 2010, becoming the 4th Director of National Intelligence (DNI)

During his time as director he has often been required to defend the position of the National Security Agency (NSA).

The agency’s image was badly damaged after whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed how its programs spied on American citizens.</s>US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said on Thursday that he had submitted his resignation, stepping down as President-elect Donald Trump begins to assemble his new administration.

Clapper, whose job is to coordinate the work of 17 disparate agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, said resigning "felt pretty good" after six years in the job.

In a Congressional hearing he made clear he was not available to stay on in the job after Trump takes office on January 20.

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

Confirming that, the Directorate of National Intelligence said later in a tweet that "As required of all appointed Administration officials, DNI Clapper has signed a letter of resignation effective at noon on Jan 20, 2017."

Clapper's tenure as US intelligence chief was marred by the leak of documents from the NSA demonstrating that it collected massive amounts of data on the communications of US citizens. In March 2013 Clapper denied in testimony to Congress that the agency swept up such data from US telecommunications providers.

Months later former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents showing that the NSA did collect such data, leading to accusations that Clapper lied to Congress on the issue and calls for his resignation.

The data also showed how the US spies on allies, sparking tensions with top partners like France and Germany.

In an interview in 2014 Snowden said that Clapper's denials had prompted him to leak the top secret data.

Clapper though condemned Snowden for damaging the US ability to collect intelligence and for giving away US secrets to enemies.

"What Snowden has stolen and exposed has gone way, way beyond his professed concerns with so-called domestic surveillance programs," Clapper said to a hearing in January 2014.

But he also said separately that the revelations sparked a debate over balancing government spying powers and privacy rights that "actually probably needed to happen."</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of national intelligence says he’s formally submitted his resignation.

James Clapper has long said he planned to retire at the end of the Obama administration, and he told the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday that he submitted his letter of resignation on Wednesday evening.

Committee members jokingly asked him to stay on for perhaps four more years. Clapper says his wife probably would have a problem with that.

Clapper has held the job since August 2010. He was previously a lieutenant general in the Air Force and director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.</s>(CNN) Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the House Select Committee on Intelligence Thursday he had submitted his letter of resignation on Wednesday night.

"(I) submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good," he said before the panel of lawmakers, in response to the top Democrat on the panel joking he hoped he would stick around for another four years.

"I have 64 days left and I'd have a pretty hard time with my wife going past that," Clapper told California Rep. Adam Schiff, who also paid his respects to Clapper's service as the hearing opened.

All members of an outgoing administration must submit a resignation at some point.

Clapper's announcement wasn't a surprise to those around him and was expected at the end of his term. For months, the intelligence director has been updating those around him on his own personal countdown clock, telling them exactly how many days he has left until retirement.

"He signed his letter as required by all appointed administration officials but is finishing out his term," said a spokesperson from the Office of Director National Intelligence. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced via Twitter that the resignation will be effective at noon on January 20, 2017.

Clapper's announcement comes as president-elect Donald Trump's transition team is trying to hammer out the people who will lead and set the tone for national security agencies during his administration.

Sen.Mark Warner, the Virginia Democrat and incoming vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said Clapper's announcement "underscores the need for the new administration to move expeditiously in making key national security appointments."

"As that process continues," Warner said in a statement, "I hope President-Elect Trump will seek out personnel that embody the same experience, gravity of purpose and service to country that have been a hallmark of James Clapper's career."

While Clapper's job is focused on policy and security, politics intruded at Thursday's hearing when he was asked whether he had any concerns about FBI director James Comey's announcement late in the presidential election campaign that his agency was reopening an investigation into Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's use of email while at the State Department.

Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro described Comey's act as an "unprecedented intrusion by a director within our own intelligence community in our democratic process," and asked Clapper if "you believe that Director Comey breached any protocol."

"I have no reason to question Director Comey," Clapper said. "I think extremely highly of him so whatever actions he took he did so what he felt was best and I have no basis for questioning him."

Clapper has said that in over 50 years of military and intelligence work, he has never seen the breadth of challenges facing the US as he does today.

"Our nation is facing the most diverse array of threats that I've seen," he told the committee Thursday.

At the hearing, Clapper was asked which threats will be of most concern to the US in the next 5-10 years.

"I'm hesitant to pick one," he said. Clapper listed the challenges posed by nation states like Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, as well as transnational threats like terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, "which is personally a growing concern for me," he said, and "the challenges posed in the cyber dimension."

Clapper also said that preventing attacks like the June attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was among the issues that concern him.

"I will leave this job concerned about the impact of so-called lone wolves and home grown violent extremism," Clapper said. "That is a very complex problem."

As Director of National Intelligence, Clapper acts as the principal intelligence advisor to President Barack Obama. He oversees 17 intelligence agencies that range from high-profile places like the CIA, NSA and FBI to groups that were less well-known, like the National Reconnaissance Office.

The office was created in part to end stove-piping within the intelligence community and improve information sharing.

Clapper began his career of 50-plus years in the military, serving as a rifleman in the Marine Corps. He served two combat tours during the Vietnam War, flying 73 combat support missions over Laos and Cambodia. He went on to serve as Director of Intelligence for the war-fighting commands of US Forces Korea, Pacific Command, and Strategic Air Command.

He wrapped up his first government career as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency before retiring and working in the private sector. He returned to government September 2001 to be the first civilian director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. He was sworn in as the fourth director of the ODNI in August 2010.</s>WASHINGTON — Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said Thursday that he has submitted his letter of resignation to President Barack Obama, cementing his long-declared plan to leave his job as the nation's spy chief when a new president is sworn in.

"I submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good," Clapper said in testimony Thursday morning before the House Intelligence Committee. "I have 64 days left and I would have a hard time with my wife for anything past that."

U.S. officials emphasized that Clapper's resignation was unrelated to the election victory of Donald Trump, who has publicly dismissed the work of U.S. spy agencies on critical issues, including Russia's interference in the election and Moscow's involvement in the war in Syria.

Clapper began his career as a rifleman in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and went on to serve in a series of intelligence-related assignments over the past 50 years, culminating in his appointment as director of national intelligence in 2010.

The disclosure that Clapper has submitted his letter comes at a time of widespread apprehension among U.S. intelligence agencies over how they will be treated in a Trump administration. One of the leading candidates to serve as CIA director, former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, was expelled from the Trump transition team this week as part of an internal purge.

Clapper has only hinted at his views of Trump, saying at a security conference in July that the divisive rhetoric of the presidential campaign had worried foreign allies. Asked how he responded to such concerns, Clapper said, "I tell them that I appreciate them sharing their concerns, that it is our process in the United States and hopefully it will all come out right."

U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly been at odds with Trump. Clapper's office released a statement in October that Russia was directly involved in a cyber campaign designed to disrupt the U.S. election, and that the operation was almost certainly approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump has rejected those conclusions, saying during one of the presidential debates that it was just as likely that the election hacks were orchestrated by "somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds."</s>James A. Putvin, 100, formerly of Blue Ridge, Georgia., and most recently residing in Weedsport, New York, went to join his wife, Arlene, on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016.

Mr. Putvin was a native of Mattydale, New York. He graduated from North Syracuse in 1935 where he played several sports.

Mr. Putvin was a veteran of World War II, having served with the United States Air Corps , and retired at the rank of Master Sergeant.

Mr. Putvin owned a construction company in the Syracuse area before retiring to Florida.

His wife of 41 years, Arlene Benke, died in 1987. He is survived by a son, James A. Putvin of Weedsport, New York, a daughter, Janet P. Kissam of Port St. Lucie, Fla., and five grandchildren.

Services are to be announced. Funeral arrangements were with White Chapel Funeral Home, 2719 Erie Dr. Weedsport.</s>It was Hawker M. James's 2015 release, "Long Playing, Low Fidelity," that launched my love affair with his music. The songs were so catchy that no amount of lo-fidelity (which I love just as much) can take that away. James remains as enigmatic as his music, re-inventing himself and his approach. His latest single, "Love Like a Hurricane," is a little bit slicker, bordering on epic ballad territory a la Matthew Sweet. I've seen James in various inceptions, from solo acoustic to full-on band, but his songs keep it all slick, glued, and smooth.

Hawker M. James plays with Susanna Rose on Friday, November 18, at Lovin' Cup, 300 Park Point Drive. 9 p.m. $5. lovincup.com; hawkermjames.bandcamp.com.
James R. Clapper resigns as U.S. Director of National Intelligence.