More comes out about President Trump interfering in the investigation of Russian connections with his campaign.
He asked the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, and the Director of the National Security Agency, Michael Rogers, separately to deny publicly that any collusion took place.
Both refused the request as inappropriate.
Dan Coats is the former Republican senator from Indiana whom Trump appointed to his position.
In related news, former CIA director John Brennan testified before a Congressional Committee that Russia “brazenly interfered with the 2016 election” and that he briefed Congressional leaders about this in August. He also talked with his counterpart in Russian intelligence, warning him about the consequences of their “aggressive” actions. Read what he says about Russian attempts to win over individuals after the jump (and after the Trump story).
From Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima, Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence – The Washington Post:
President Trump asked two of the nation’s top intelligence officials in March to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between his campaign and the Russian government, according to current and former officials.
Trump made separate appeals to the director of national intelligence, Daniel Coats, and to Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, urging them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election.
Coats and Rogers refused to comply with the requests, which they both deemed to be inappropriate, according to two current and two former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private communications with the president.
[Keep reading. . .]
From Brian Naylor, “Ex-CIA Director John Brennan Tells Lawmakers about ‘Very Agressive’ Russian Election Meddling,” NPR:
Brennan said he is “aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign.” Brennan said that concerned him, “because of known Russian efforts to suborn such individuals,” and that it raised questions about whether or not the Russians “were able to gain the cooperation of those individuals.” Brennan added he didn’t know if “collusion existed” between the Russians and those he identified as involved in the Trump campaign.
While Brennan would not specifically identify any individuals associated with the Trump campaign who had contacts with Russian officials and would not opine as to whether there was any collusion or collaboration, he did tell lawmakers why he was concerned about the contacts occurring against the general background of Russian efforts to meddle in the election. Brennan said he’s studied Russian intelligence activities over the years, and how they’ve been able to get people to betray their country. “Frequently, individuals on a treasonous path do not even realize they’re on that path until it gets to be too late,” he said.
[Keep reading. . .]
Photo of Dan Coats by Director of National Intelligence office [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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