Trump Tried To Get His Intel Chiefs To Push Back Against Russia Investigation
New report details broad obstruction of justice campaign by Donald Trump.
In a striking abuse of power, Donald Trump asked his intelligence chiefs to publically push back against the announcement by James Comey of FBI’s investigation into collusion with Russia.
In a new bombshell report by the Washington Post, “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 asked Daniel Coats and Admiral Mike Rogers on separate occasions to help him publically deny the existence of collusion with Russia during the 2016 election.
Coats is the director of national intelligence and Admiral Mike Rogers is the director of the National Security Agency.
“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,” the Washington Post reports.
Here is a key segment from the Washington Post story:
Trump sought the assistance of Coats and Rogers after FBI Director James B. Comey told the House Intelligence Committee on March 20 that the FBI was investigating “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”
Trump’s conversation with Rogers was documented contemporaneously in an internal memo written by a senior NSA official, according to the officials. It is unclear if a similar memo was prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to document Trump’s conversation with Coats. Officials said such memos could be made available to both the special counsel now overseeing the Russia investigation and congressional investigators, who might explore whether Trump sought to impede the FBI’s work.
Trump’s goal, according to one of the Washington Post’s sources, was to “muddy the waters” after the FBI publically acknowledged the existence of the investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
White House Tried To Shut Down The Investigation
As if those bombshell details weren’t enough, the Washington Post report also notes that the White House tried to shut down the investigation. According to the Washington Post, “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.”
White House officials asked “Can we ask him to shut down the investigation? Are you able to assist in this matter?”
The new details continue to point to obstruction of justice by Donald Trump.
During a meeting with James Comey, Donald Trump asked the then FBI Director to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn.
