Key officials asked to rebut Russia reports
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has enlisted senior members of the intelligence community and Congress in efforts to counter news stories about Trump associates’ ties to Russia, an issue that has been under investigation by the FBI and lawmakers now defending the White House.
Acting at the behest of the White House, the officials called news organizations last week in attempts to challenge stories about alleged contacts between members of President Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives, U.S. officials said.
The calls were orchestrated by the White House after unsuccessful attempts by the administration to get senior FBI officials to speak with news organizations and dispute the accuracy of stories on the alleged contacts with Russia.
The White House on Friday acknowledged those interactions with the FBI but did not disclose that it then turned to other officials who agreed to do what the FBI would not — participate in White House-arranged calls with news media, including The Washington Post.
Two of those officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, broadly dismissed Trump associates’ contacts with Russia as infrequent and inconsequential.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer confirmed that the White House communicated with officials with the aim of contesting reporting on Russia but maintained that the administration did nothing improper. “When informed by the FBI that [the Russia-related reporting] was false, we told reporters who else they should contact to corroborate the FBI’s version of the story,” he said.
The decision to involve those officials could be perceived as threatening the independence of U.S. spy agencies that are supposed to be insulated from partisan issues and as undercutting the credibility of ongoing congressional probes. Those officials saw their involvement as an effort to correct coverage they believed was erroneous.
The effort also involved senior lawmakers with access to classified intelligence about Russia, including Sen. Richard Burr, RN.C., and Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., chairmen of the Senate and House intelligence committees. Unlike the others, Mr. Nunes spoke on the record and was subsequently quoted in The Wall Street Journal.
Rep. Adam Schiff, DCalif., the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that if the White House “contrived to have intelligence officials contradict unfavorable news reports, this represents a new and even more grave threat to the independence of the intelligence community.”
Mr. Nunes, who was on Mr. Trump’s transition team, has resisted calls for his House committee to investigate alleged contacts between Trump associates and Russia.
A Senate Intelligence Committee probe of Russia’s effort to influence last year’s U.S. election is shaping up as an unexpectedly bipartisan effort that could take months to complete.