Ex-CIA head testifies Russia ties troubling
He relates manipulation, election worries
WASHINGTON — The CIA alerted the FBI to a troubling pattern of contacts between Russian officials and associates of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign last year, former CIA Director John Brennan testified Tuesday.
In testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, Brennan said he became increasingly concerned that Trump associates were being manipulated by Russian intelligence services as part of a broader covert influence campaign that sought to disrupt the election and deliver the presidency to Trump.
“I was worried by a number of the contacts that the Russians had with U.S. persons,” Brennan said, adding that he did not see proof of collusion before he left office Jan. 20, but “felt as though the FBI investigation was certainly well-founded and needed to look into those issues.”
Brennan’s remarks represent the most detailed public accounting to date of his tenure as CIA director during the reported Russian assault on the U.S. presidential race, and the CIA’s role in triggering an FBI probe that many
say Trump has sought to contain.
“It should be clear to everyone that Russia brazenly interfered in our 2016 presidential election process,” Brennan said at one point, one of several moments in which his words seemed aimed squarely at the president.
Trump has refused to fully accept the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia stole thousands of sensitive emails, orchestrated online dumps of damaging information, and used fake news and other means to upend the 2016 race.
GOP lawmakers spent much of Tuesday’s hearing trying to get Brennan to concede that he had no conclusive evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Brennan acknowledged that he still had “unresolved questions” about the purpose of those contacts when he stepped down as CIA director in January.
But “I know what the Russians try to do,” Brennan said. “They try to suborn individuals, and they try to get individuals, including U.S. persons, to act on their behalf either wittingly or unwittingly.”
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, tried to damage Democrat Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and help Trump. On Aug. 4, as evidence of that campaign mounted, Brennan warned Alexander Bortnikov, director of Russia’s Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, not to meddle in the election. Not only would it damage relations between the two countries, he said, but it was also certain to backfire.
“I said that all Americans, regardless of political affiliation or whom they might support in the election, cherish their ability to elect their own leaders without outside interference or disruption,” Brennan said. “I said American voters would be outraged by any Russian attempt to interfere in the election.”
Brennan refused to name any of the U.S. individuals who were apparently detected communicating with Russian officials. The FBI investigation, which began in July, has scrutinized Trump associates including Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager; Carter Page, who was once listed as a foreign policy adviser to Trump; and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign after misleading statements about his contacts with the Russian ambassador were exposed.
Brennan was asked about Trump’s disclosure of highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting this month. Brennan said the CIA at times provided tips about terrorist plots to the Kremlin, but he indicated that Trump violated key protocols.
Sensitive information should be passed only through intelligence services, not divulged to foreign ministers or ambassadors, Brennan said. Referring to the information revealed by Trump, Brennan said it had neither gone through “the proper channels nor did the originating agency have the opportunity to clear language for it.”
Brennan was a key figure in the handling of Russian election interference under former President Barack Obama’s administration. As alarm grew, Brennan held classified meetings with top congressional officials in the fall to impress upon them the unprecedented nature of Russia’s interference.
Later, Brennan was among the top officials who briefed then-President-elect Trump on the scale of Russia’s intervention, and its assessed goal of helping Trump win the election.
On Tuesday, Brennan testified that he was the first to confront a senior member of the Russian government on the matter, using an August phone conversation with the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service to warn that the meddling would backfire.
Brennan said he told Russia’s Federal Security Service chief Alexander Bortnikov that Russian attempts to interfere in the election “would destroy any near-term prospect of improvement” in relations with the United States.
Bortnikov twice denied
that Russia was waging such a campaign, according to Brennan, but said he would carry the message to Putin.
The Obama administration went on to issue statements publicly accusing Russia of election meddling, and in December announced punitive measures including the expulsion of 35 suspected Russian intelligence operatives from the United States.
Despite those warnings and efforts at retaliation, Brennan said Russia is likely not dissuaded from attempting similar interference operations in the future.
Trump has declared that “Russia is fake news” and has sought to undermine the conclusions of U.S. intelligence services. He has also repeatedly rejected news stories about his campaign’s ties to Russia. White House officials sought to enlist the FBI and CIA to dispute such stories early this year, according to reports.
After the FBI publicly confirmed its investigation into such ties, Trump asked Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, and Michael Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, to publicly deny any collusion between Russia and his campaign, according to The Washington Post, citing two former U.S. officials.
The Post reported Monday that Trump made the request of Coats and Rogers after then-FBI Director James Comey disclosed March 20 that the FBI was investigating potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
That same day, a call from the White House switchboard was made to Coats’ office with a request to speak to the director, a former intelligence official said. Coats took the call.
Coats, who testified Tuesday in a separate congressional hearing, declined to discuss his conversations with the president.
“It’s not appropriate for me to comment publicly on any of that,” he said, noting that he is the president’s principal intelligence adviser.
Coats indicated that he would cooperate in the Russia investigation that’s being led by special counsel Robert Mueller. Under questioning by Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Coats said that if asked, he would provide details of his conversation with Trump to Mueller.
He also said that if he is called before an investigative committee, such as the Senate Intelligence Committee, “I certainly will provide them with what I know and what I don’t know.” He said the Trump administration has not directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to withhold information from members of Congress conducting oversight.
During his candidacy, Trump’s spokesman declared that “there was no communication” with foreign entities. And, in January, Vice President Mike Pence flatly denied that there had been any contacts with Russians.
Separately, leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee issued two new subpoenas to Flynn’s businesses. On Monday, in response to the Senate committee’s earlier requests, Flynn invoked his constitutional right not to incriminate himself in regard to details about interactions between himself and the Russians.
The committee sent a letter Tuesday to his lawyer questioning Flynn’s basis for claiming a Fifth Amendment right to not provide documents in answer to requests. Tuesday’s letter narrowed the scope of the documents the panel is seeking.
If there is no response from Flynn, the Senate Intelligence Committee may consider a contempt-of-Congress charge, said Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C.