Trump rejects reports of Russian meddling
President Donald Trump on Friday minimized new warnings from U.S. intelligence experts that Russia is interfering in this year’s election campaign, and revived old grievances in claiming that Democrats are determined to undermine the legitimacy of his presidency.
As Trump pushed back against the reports that Russia is working to help reelect him, more departures from the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence were announced.
Trump started the day on Twitter by claiming that Dem- ocrats were pushing a “misinformation campaign” in hopes of politically damag- ing him.
Then, making light of the intelligence findings at a campaign rally in Las Vegas, he suggested that Russia might actu- ally prefer Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the top Democratic presidential contenders, in the White House. Sanders and his wife, Jane, in 1988 spent their honeymoon in the then Soviet Union, Trump noted.
“Would you rather have, let’s say, Bernie?” Trump said. “Wouldn’t you rather that
Bernie, who honeymooned in Moscow?”
Intelligence officials told lawmakers in a classified briefing last week that Russia is meddling with the hope of getting Trump reelected, according to officials familiar with the briefing
The fresh intelligence warnings about Russian interfer- ence came in what has been a tumultuous stretch for the intelligence community.
A day after the Feb. 13 briefing to the House Intelligence Committee, Trump berated the acting Direc- tor of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire in a meeting at the White House. Then this week, Trump abruptly announced that Maguire would be replaced by Richard Grenell, a Trump loyalist who also will hold the job in an acting capacity.
In addition to Maguire, two other senior officials will soon leave the agency.
Andrew Hallman, one of Maguire’s top deputies, announced Friday he would be leaving. He is expected to return to the CIA, where he has spent more than 30 years, according to an official familiar with the move, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the personnel move.
In addition, Jason Klitenic, the general counsel for the national intelligence direc- tor’s office, is returning to private practice. Klitenic’s departure is unrelated to the sudden shakeup by Trump, according to the official.
Fo r mer C IA D irector John Brennan told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday that Trump’s ouster of Maguire and Hallman was a “virtual decapitation of the intelli- gence community.”
Trump tweeted Friday that he was considering four candidates to serve as permanent intel director and expected to make a decision within the next few weeks. He told reporters Thursday evening that Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia was among those he’s considering.
But Collins, who is vying for one of Georgia’s Senate seats, said Friday he’s not interested in the job overseeing the nation’s 17 spy agencies.
The installation of Grenell, even in a temporary role, has raised questions among critics about whether Trump is more interested in having a loyalist instead of someone steeped in the complicated inner workings of international intelligence.
Grenell has a background that is primarily in politics and media affairs. Most recently, he’s been serving as Trump’s chief envoy to Germany.
The Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, dismissed Grenell as someone who, “by all accounts, rose to prominence in the Trump administration because of his personal devotion to Donald Trump and penchant for trolling the President’s perceived enemies on Twitter.”