House members reportedly told Russia interfering in 2020 election

John Brennan, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and a prominent public critic of Donald Trump, weighs in on the significance of the new report about Trump being furious about an intelligence briefing for members of Congress that included the conclusion that Russia is still attempting to interfere in the 2020 election with the goal of supporting him.
John O. Brennan(@JohnBrennan)

We are now in a full-blown national security crisis. By trying to prevent the flow of intelligence to Congress, Trump is abetting a Russian covert operation to keep him in office for Moscow’s interests, not America’s. https://t.co/Vj6lUV5ZNuFebruary 21, 2020


“Russia intends to interfere with the ongoing Democratic primaries as well as the general election.”

That’s key new information that House lawmakers heard during an intelligence briefing last week, according to the New York Times. The briefing, which reportedly angered the president, once again conveyed to lawmakers the conclusion from intelligence officials that Russia was interfering in the election with goal of electing Trump.
Kyle Griffin(@kylegriffin1)

Last week’s briefing did contain what appeared to be new information, according to NYT, including that Russia intends to interfere with the ongoing Democratic primaries as well as the general election. https://t.co/NEdqx6ee8bFebruary 21, 2020


House members reportedly told Russia interfering in 2020 election

House members were reportedly warned by intelligence officials last week that Russia is interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get Trump re-elected, mirroring the country’s meddling in the 2016 race.

The New York Times reports:

The day after the Feb. 13 briefing to lawmakers, Mr. Trump berated Joseph Maguire, the outgoing acting director of national intelligence, for allowing it to take place, people familiar with the exchange said. Mr. Trump cited the presence in the briefing of Representative Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who led the impeachment proceedings against him, as a particular irritant.


During the briefing to the House Intelligence Committee, Mr. Trump’s allies challenged the conclusions, arguing that Mr. Trump has been tough on Russia and strengthened European security. Some intelligence officials viewed the briefing as a tactical error, saying that had the official who delivered the conclusion spoken less pointedly or left it out, they would have avoided angering the Republicans.

That intelligence official, Shelby Pierson, is an aide to Mr. Maguire who has a reputation of delivering intelligence in somewhat blunt terms. The president announced on Wednesday that he was replacing Mr. Maguire with Richard Grenell, the ambassador to Germany and long an aggressively vocal Trump supporter.

The Washington Post reported earlier today about the confrontation between Trump and Maguire, but the content of the intelligence briefing was not previously known.

Trump has repeatedly pushed back against the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 race to help him defeat Hillary Clinton.

During the impeachment inquiry and trial, some of the president’s allies tried to peddle the baseless conspiracy theory that it was actually Ukraine who meddled in the 2016 race.

That claim was dismissed by Fiona Hill, the White House’s former top Russia expert, as a “fictional narrative” pushed by Vladimir Putin’s government.


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2020/feb/20/roger-stone-sentenced-democrats-debate-bloomberg-trump

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