Don pressured intel bosses

Trump asked Coats, Rogers to refute campaign collusion with Russians

Washington, June 22: President Donald Trump suggested to two top intel chiefs that they publicly say there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russians, according to CNN.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency director Admiral Mike Rogers told special counsel Robert S. Mueller’s team and Senate investigators, in separate meetings last week, they felt odd and uncomfortable, but said they did not believe the President gave them orders to interfere, according to multiple sources familiar with their accounts.

Sources say that both men went further than they did in June 7 public hearings, when they provided little detail about the interactions.

The sources gave CNN the first glimpse of what the intelligence chiefs said to Mr Mueller’s investigators when they did separate interviews last week. Both men told Mr Mueller’s team they were surprised the President would suggest that they publicly declare he was not involved in collusion, sources said. Mr Mueller’s team, which is in the early stages of its investigation, will ultimately decide whether the interactions are relevant to the inquiry.

Mr Coats and Mr Rogers also met individually last week with the Senate intelligence committee in two closed briefings that were described by Democratic and Republican congressional sources. One source said that Mr Trump wanted them to say publicly what then-FBI director James Comey had told the President privately that he was not under investigation for collusion. However, sources said that neither Mr Coats nor Mr Rogers raised concerns that Mr Trump was pushing them to do something they did not want to do. They did not act on the President’s alleged suggestion.

Mr Trump has said repeatedly that no collusion occurred. “After 7 months of investigations and committee hearings about my ‘collusion with the Russians,’ nobody has been able to show any proof. Sad!” he tweeted on June 16.

The DNI, NSA and Mueller’s office also did not comment. Because the meetings were classified, sources shared limited details. But they said the two intel bosses recounted that Trump was frustrated that the Russia allegations have continued to cloud his administration.