Russian Agents Spoke Openly About Influencing Trump Through Advisers
According to a bombshell new report by the New York Times, American intelligence officials were able to collect information last summer indicating that senior Russian intelligence agents and political officials were talking openly about how to influence Donald Trump through his advisers.
Russian officials spoke about influencing Trump through Paul Manafort who was his campaign manager at the time and Michael Flynn who went on the be named national security adviser.
According to the New York Times, some of the Russians boasted about their intimate acquaintance with Flynn, while others floated leveraging their relationships with deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who employed Manafort as a campaign adviser.
U.S. intelligence officials found the information so credible that they passed it over to the FBI which resulted in the bureau’s opening of a counterintelligence investigation.
Just yesterday former CIA Director John Brennan during testimony to Congress said, “I know there was a sufficient basis of information and intelligence that required further investigation by the bureau to determine whether U.S. persons were actively conspiring or colluding with Russian officials.”
Brennan also said “I was convinced in the summer that the Russians were trying to interfere in the election. And they were very aggressive.”
According to the New York Times report, the Russians “appeared confident that each could be used to help shape Mr. Trump’s opinions on Russia.”
CNN previously reported about intercepted phone calls during which Russian officials were bragging about ties to Mr. Flynn and discussing ways to wield influence over him.
