WASHINGTON — Intelligence officials warned House lawmakers last week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get President Donald Trump reelected, five people familiar with the matter said, in a disclosure that angered Trump, who complained that Democrats would use it against him.
The day
after the Feb. 13 briefing to lawmakers, Trump berated Joseph Maguire, the
outgoing acting director of national intelligence, for allowing it to take
place, people familiar with the exchange said. Trump cited the presence in the
briefing of Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., who led the impeachment proceedings
against him, as a particular irritant.
During
the briefing to the House Intelligence Committee, Trump’s allies challenged the
conclusions, arguing that Trump has been tough on Russia and strengthened
European security. Some intelligence officials viewed the briefing as a
tactical error, saying that had the official who delivered the conclusion
spoken less pointedly or left it out, they would have avoided angering the
Republicans.
That
intelligence official, Shelby Pierson, is an aide to Maguire who has a
reputation of delivering intelligence in somewhat blunt terms. The president
announced Wednesday that he was replacing Maguire with Richard Grenell, the
ambassador to Germany and long an aggressively vocal Trump supporter.
Though
some current and former officials speculated that the briefing may have played
a role in the removal of Maguire, who had told people in recent days that he
believed he would remain in the job, two administration officials said the
timing was coincidental. Grenell had been in discussions with the
administration about taking on new roles, they said, and Trump had never felt a
personal kinship with Maguire.
Spokeswomen
for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and its election
security office declined to comment. A White House spokesman did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
A House
intelligence committee official called the Feb. 13 briefing an important update
about “the integrity of our upcoming elections” and said that members of both
parties attended, including Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the top Republican
on the committee.
*The
Washington Post first reported the Oval Office confrontation between Trump and
Maguire.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/russia-backs-trump-e2-80-99s-reelection-and-he-fears-democrats-will-exploit-its-support/ar-BB10dBOd
