A group of House Democrats reportedly walked out of an election security briefing on Tuesday, upset after U.S. intelligence officials told them they hadn’t reached an assessment on whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin developed a preference for President Trump in the 2020 election.
National security leaders from the FBI, NSA, Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told the full House and Senate during classified briefings that “they don’t have direct knowledge” that Putin “has developed a preference for a candidate in the 2020 U.S. presidential election,” according to sources cited by CNN. The new report said, “Briefers contended that Putin’s goal is to sow discontent.”
CNN’s Manu Raju tweeted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff “raised questions, since it conflicted with what a briefer told House Intel last month.” He said, “Some Dems walked out, with some saying they lacked confidence in briefers” and said it was the first election security briefing for the full House since the “shakeup atop the office of Director of National Intelligence,” now run by acting spy chief Richard Grenell.
It marked a stark turnaround for Schiff, who only hours earlier defended the briefing in a Twitter exchange with Trump.
Trump tweeted that there was “another Russia, Russia, Russia meeting,” adding that it was “headed up by corrupt politician Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, so I wouldn’t expect too much!”
“Mr. President, you are wrong. As usual. Today’s briefing for all House Members focuses on the threat of foreign interference in our election,” Schiff tweeted in response. “The briefers are agency heads and senior officials. They are your own people. We will insist on the truth, whether you like it or not.”
Last month, the intelligence community disputed information the media were given about a classified House Intelligence Committee briefing in February, with officials denying that lawmakers were told that Russia is attempting to help Trump get reelected in 2020.
“We cannot comment on classified briefings, but what we can tell you is that Shelby did not say Russia is aiding the reelection of President Trump,” a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told the Washington Examiner.
That controversial classified briefing took place on Feb. 13 and was conducted in part by Shelby Pierson, the election threats executive under then-acting DNI Joseph Maguire. Officials from the FBI, CIA, and NSA were also present. According to sources cited by the New York Times, Pierson warned that “Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get President Trump reelected.”
But NBC News cited officials who said the “misinformation and controversy” stemmed from reports that were “an overstatement, fueled, they believe, by a misinterpretation by some Democratic lawmakers on the committee.”
That echoed denials by a national security official cited by CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“The problem is, Shelby said they developed a preference for Trump,” Tapper’s source said. “A more reasonable interpretation of the intelligence is not that they have a preference; it’s a step short of that.”
The official added, “It’s more that they understand the president is someone they can work with,” “not that they prefer him over” his Democratic opponents.
CNN further reported an intelligence official said Pierson’s characterization was “misleading” while a national security official said she didn’t provide proper “nuance.”
Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien repeatedly insisted that he had not seen any intelligence to show Russia was doing anything to try to get Trump reelected.
Earlier in February, FBI Director Christopher Wray declined to confirm or deny whether the Russians were backing any particular candidate but said, “The efforts to sow discord on both sides of an issue and to generate controversy and to generate distrust in our democratic institutions on our election process, that is very much ongoing.”
“It happened in 2016, and it’s been continuing ever since then,” Wray said of Russia’s disinformation efforts. “It may have an uptick during an election cycle, but it’s a 24/7, 365 days a year threat.”
Last month, the Washington Post also reported Sen. Bernie Sanders was told by U.S. officials the Russian government was attempting to interfere in the Democratic primaries to his benefit. The vague “Russian assistance” effort was relayed to Trump and lawmakers, according to unnamed sources.
“I don’t care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president,” Sanders said in response. “My message to Putin is clear: Stay out of American elections, and, as president, I will make sure that you do.”
