Senate intelligence leaders: Russians schemed to help Trump [View all]

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico



By MARTIN MATISHAK and KYLE CHENEY 05/16/2018 12:33 PM EDT Updated 05/16/2018 01:12 PM EDT

Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday endorsed the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election to help President Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton.

It's a powerful bipartisan endorsement of a conclusion that had been called into question by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, who have accused intelligence agencies of failing to employ proper "tradecraft" when they concluded Russia came to support Trump's candidacy. Instead, it's the Republicans on the House panel who find themselves isolated in their position in what has become an increasingly antagonistic relationship with the FBI and Justice Department.

“I’ve heard nothing to contradict anything from the [intelligence community assessment] particularly in terms of the fact Russian massively intervened in our elections to the purpose of helping Mr. Trump and hurting Hillary Clinton,” the committee's top Democrat, Mark Warner of Virginia, told reporters after the committee held a closed hearing with intelligence committee leaders.

The committee's chairman, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), said the panel would issue a full report on its findings after a declassification review by the intelligence community.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/16/russians-schemed-to-help-trump-senate-intel-591882

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Russia favored Trump in 2016, Senate panel says, breaking with House GOP

By Karoun Demirjian May 16 at 12:28 PM

The Senate Intelligence Committee has determined that the intelligence community was correct in assessing that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election with the aim of helping then-candidate Donald Trump, contradicting findings House Republicans reached last month.

“Our staff concluded that the [intelligence community’s] conclusions were accurate and on point,” the panel’s vice chairman, Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), said Wednesday in a joint statement with Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), its chairman. “The Russian effort was extensive, sophisticated, and ordered by President Putin himself for the purpose of helping Donald Trump and hurting Hillary Clinton,” Warner continued.

But that last determination — that Russia intended to help Trump — sets up a clash within the GOP over which record of events is most accurate, a dispute that could complicate the party’s messaging surrounding the Russia investigations as it heads into the 2018 election season. While the House Republicans’ report also concurred with the bulk of the intelligence community’s findings about Russian meddling, it accused officials of not following their own best practices in determining that Moscow hoped Trump would win.

Trump has taken umbrage at the intelligence community’s determination that the Kremlin favored his candidacy over that of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The president cheered the House Intelligence Committee’s findings and report on Twitter, claiming it vindicated him by finding there was no evidence of collusion or coordination with Russia.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/russia-favored-trump-in-2016-senate-panel-says-breaking-with-house-gop/2018/05/16/6cf95a6a-58f6-11e8-8836-a4a123c359ab_story.html