White House now tied to documents given to Nunes
WASHINGTON — At least three senior White House officials, including the top lawyer for the National Security Council, were involved in the handling of intelligence files that were shared with the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and showed that Trump campaign officials were swept up in U.S. surveillance of foreign nationals, according to U.S. officials.
The White House’s role in the matter contradicts assertions by the committee chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and adds to mounting concerns that the Trump administration is collaborating with the leader of the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
A White House letter to the House committee on Thursday said it had “discovered documents” that might show whether information collection on Americans was mishandled. The administration said it was prepared to show them to lawmakers.
The materials unearthed by Nunes have been used to defend President Donald Trump’s baseless claims on Twitter that he had been wiretapped at Trump Tower after the election under an operation ordered by thenPresident Barack Obama. FBI Director James Comey and others have said that claim is false.
Nunes reviewed the material during a surreptitious visit to the White House grounds last week. He then returned the next day so he could brief Trump on what Nunes depicted as potential abuses by U.S. spy agencies. White House officials appear to have recognized the value of Cohen’s material in defending Trump from criticism for his false accusation about wiretapping.
Nunes has repeatedly refused to answer questions about the identities of those involved in unearthing the intelligence reports, although at one point he said his source was not a member of the White House staff.
But U.S. officials confirmed that three senior officials at the National Security Council — considered part of the White House — played roles in the collection and handling of the information. The officials said the classified files were gathered and handled by Ezra Cohen, the senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council; John Eisenberg, the top lawyer for the National Security Council; and Michael Ellis, a lawyer who previously worked with Nunes on the House Intelligence Committee.
Nunes, who served as an adviser to the Trump transition team, said the files made him concerned that U.S. intelligence agencies had mishandled information on members of the Trump campaign, though Nunes acknowledged he saw no evidence of illegality.