Ex-CIA chief: Trump staff had enough contact with Russia to justify FBI inquiry
Source: The Guardian
Ex-CIA chief: Trump staff had enough contact with Russia to justify FBI inquiry
John Brennan testifies about efforts to combat Moscows attempts
to influence outcome of 2016 presidential election
Julian Borger in Washington
Tuesday 23 May 2017 20.28 BST
The former CIA director, John Brennan, has said there were enough contacts between members of the Trump campaign and Moscow by last summer to justify further investigation by the FBI.
In testimony to the House intelligence committee, Brennan gave the fullest account to date of the scale of the effort to combat Russian operations to affect the outcome of the 2016 elections.
He confirmed that the CIA had set up a special group with the NSA and FBI in late July to investigate the extent of Russian intervention in the presidential election. He briefed congressional leaders on the threat and on 4 August he warned Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Russian intelligence agency, FSB, in a telephone call to stop the meddling, telling him it would backfire. Bortnikov told Brennan he would pass on the message to Vladmir Putin.
Asked about Trumps reported sharing of top-secret intelligence with Russian officials in the Oval Office, Brennan replied that, if true, Trumps actions would have violated two intelligence protocols. One of those protocols dictated that such secrets should be shared through intelligence channels and not through ministers and diplomats. Secondly, the language shared with the Russians should have been cleared by the agency that first provided the intelligence.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/23/ex-cia-chief-john-brennan-concerns-russian-ties-trump-team