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WaPo: Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe

C

chadskin

Member
President Trump asked two of the nation's top intelligence officials in March to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between his campaign and the Russian government, according to current and former officials.

Trump made separate appeals to the director of national intelligence, Daniel Coats, and to Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, urging them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election.

Coats and Rogers refused to comply with the requests, which they both deemed to be inappropriate, according to two current and two former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private communications with the president.
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Current and former senior intelligence officials viewed Trump's requests as an attempt by the president to tarnish the credibility of the agency leading the Russia investigation.

A senior intelligence official said that Trump's goal was to ”muddy the waters" about the scope of the FBI probe at a time when Democrats were ramping up their calls for the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel, a step announced last week.

Senior intelligence officials also saw the March requests as a threat to the independence of U.S. spy agencies, which are supposed to remain insulated from partisan issues.

”The problem wasn't so much asking them to issue statements, it was asking them to issue false statements about an ongoing investigation," a former senior intelligence official said of the request to Coats.
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In addition to the requests to Coats and Rogers, senior White House officials sounded out top intelligence officials about the possibility of intervening directly with Comey to encourage the FBI to drop its probe of Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, according to people familiar with the matter. The officials said the White House appeared uncertain about its power to influence the FBI.

”Can we ask him to shut down the investigation? Are you able to assist in this matter?" one official said of the line of questioning from the White House.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...4933bc-3f10-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html
 
S

Steel

Banned
Whelp. Sounds like he was really shopping around with this obstruction of justice thing. Good thing he's so incompetent.
 
D

Dalek

Member
1416420067199
 
L

LegendofLex

Member
The problem wasn’t so much asking them to issue statements, it was asking them to issue false statements about an ongoing investigation
Click to expand...

Buried in this story is a direct admission that evidence of collusion does exist, which isn't something we get from many of the other leaks.
 
R

reggieandTFE

Member
Coats is a pretty standard, by the book, shit-heel Indiana Republican so the fact that he refused shows you how beyond the pale Trump has been with this stuff.
 
P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
“The problem wasn’t so much asking them to issue statements, it was asking them to issue false statements about an ongoing investigation,” a former senior intelligence official said of the request to Coats.
Click to expand...

So...Comey?
 
N

NullPointer

Member
Senior intelligence officials also saw the March requests as a threat to the independence of U.S. spy agencies, which are supposed to remain insulated from partisan issues.

“The problem wasn’t so much asking them to issue statements, it was asking them to issue false statements about an ongoing investigation,” a former senior intelligence official said of the request to Coats.
Click to expand...
False statements.
 
P

polyh3dron

Banned
Can we get a day off from this shit? For fuck's sake.

To paraphrase the immortal words of Fall Out Boy, Washington journalism ain't a scene; it's a goddamned arms race.
 
F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Coats assumed office this year, so it's obvious Trump approached him after naming him, not during the election.

The case for obstruction of justice is half formed at this point, regardless of actual findings pertaining collusion with Russian intelligence.
 
B

BlackGhost

Banned
Any good press he expected to occur because of his trip will pretty much be squashed by these continued stories.

Looks like we're in for another week! "It's only Monday"
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Funky Papa said:
Coats assumed office this year, so it's obvious Trump approached him after naming him, not during the election.

The case for obstruction of justice is half formed at this point, regardless of actual findings pertaining collusion with Russian intelligence.
Click to expand...

All Congress would have to do is call the entire IC as witnesses and they'd have it.
 
J

jelly

Member
So he is proper fucked then, must be quite damning evidence either through the campaign or his business or both is built on Russian cards and other unsavoury money men that will reveal themselves when the IC go digging.
 
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