Former CIA Chief Says That Russia Was Involved In Trump Campaign During US Presidential Polls

Former CIA Director John Brennan told a Congressional inquiry panel on Tuesday that he had personally phoned his Russian counterpart after he became aware of contacts between Russian officials and the Trump campaign.and warned that ties between the two countries would be damaged if Moscow did not stop interfering in US elections.

reuters

In devastating testimony that revealed the growing rift between the intelligence community and the Trump administration, Brennan also criticized Trump's meeting with Russian officials in the White House Oval office, saying the President might have violated two protocols in the process: Sharing intelligence directly with foreign interlocutors rather than through intelligence channels to ensure that it is handled correctly, and not parsing intelligence through the originating agency to ensure that the language won't reveal sources or methods.

"Neither did it go in the proper channels nor did the originating agency have an opportunity to clear the language for it,'' Brennan said, calling the leaks ''very, very damaging" and "appalling.

The first open hearing of the House Intelligence Committee on alleged Russian subversion of US election did not go well for the Trump administration, with broad confirmation of reports that Moscow had extensive contacts with the Trump campaign.

reuters

Brennan said he didn't know if there was active collusion, but he was ''aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and US persons involved in the Trump campaign'' that he was concerned about ''because of known Russian efforts to suborn such individuals.''

He was so worried about the contacts that on August 4, 2016, he spoke to Alexander Bortnikov, who is the head of Russia's FSB, and warned that if the interference continued, it would destroy any near-term prospects for cooperation between the U.S. and Russia, and undermine engagements on issues on which they found common ground.

Brennan said Bortnikov denied that Russia tried to influence the election, but U.S experts from key agencies were on top of the situation, and he had personally briefed congressional leaders between August 11 and November 6 last year about the Russian interference.

Reuters

Brennan was testifying before the House panel even as Trump was travelling in the Middle-East, away from domestic turmoil, although the trip was jolted by the Manchester bombing.

Amid new reports that President Trump had asked urged two intelligence honchos to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion between Russia and his campaign, Brennan said he had never been asked that and ''I certainly would not follow such a directive.''

The testimony was going on at the time of writing and was scheduled to move into a closed session.