Senators briefed about informant
Trump’s demands met as material turned over, despite security risks
WASHINGTON— Top law enforcement and intelligence officials briefed congressional leaders from both parties Thursday about the FBI’s use of an informant in the Russia investigation — a highly unusual concession to Congress all but ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
House Republicans close to the president — led by Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the Intelligence Committee chairperson — had been pressing unsuccessfully for weeks for access to material related to the informant, issuing a subpoena and threatening to hold top Justice Department officials in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn it over.
Their case exploded into view when Trump seized on disclosures about the informant late last week, accusing the FBI, without evidence, of planting a spy in his campaign. He demanded in recent days that the Justice Department investigate the matter and turn over records to Congress, ignoring warnings from law enforcement officials in his administration, that sharing the documents would put the informant and foreign intelligence partners at risk. White House officials had at first arranged for only Nunes to be briefed.
Republican Senate leaders, including Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, and Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, the Intelligence Committee chairman, pressed the White House to change the audience to the so-called Gang of Eight, the select bipartisan group with whom the government’s most sensitive intelligence is shared.
The senators, who have quietly objected to Nunes’ tactics in the past, were successful, at least in part. Administration officials held two separate briefings Thursday: one for Nunes at the Justice Department and another on Capitol Hill for the Gang of Eight.
Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who has been criticized for not reining in House Republican attacks on the Russia inquiry and federal law enforcement, defended the meetings.
Inherent in the Intelligence Committee’s “work is the responsibility to ask tough questions of the executive branch,” he said in a statement. “That is why we have insisted and will continue to insist on Congress’ constitutional right to information necessary for the conduct of oversight.”
The details continued to be fluid Thursday. At the last minute, Rep. Adam B. Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, was also included in the first meeting. He was there in place of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, who received a last-minute invitation.
John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, who Trump asked to help organize the meetings, attended both sessions, as did Emmet T. Flood, a lawyer representing Trump in the Russia investigation. Their presence was highly unusual in a sensitive congressional oversight briefing, and it raised the possibility that top aides to the president could gain access to closely held information about an investigation of the president and his associates. Both men left the rooms after initial remarks, according to two officials familiar with the meeting.
Nunes has been quiet about what exactly he hopes to learn about the informant, saying only that his request is part of an oversight investigation into potential political bias and abuse of power within the Justice Department as it relates to the Russia investigation. Democrats say the entire episode — including the president’s involvement — is the latest gambit by Nunes and Trump to undermine the special counsel, Robert Mueller and gain information about his inquiry.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who has worked closely with Burr on the panel’s own Russia investigation, accused the White House of brokering a Republican-only briefing to serve their political purposes.
“If they insist upon carrying out this farce, the White House and its Republican allies in the House will do permanent, longstanding damage to the practice of bipartisan congressional oversight of intelligence,” Warner said. “They will also be sending a terrible message to anyone who works in, or with our nation’s intelligence community that the White House will always prioritize partisan politics over protecting the people who help keep this country safe.” The Republican senators did not comment publicly. Trump continued to rail against law enforcement on Twitter on Thursday, repeating unsubstantiated claims that the FBI had planted a spy in his campaign.