On Tuesday night, the Washington Post reported that during a March 22 meeting, President Trump asked then-new Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats “if he could intervene with then-FBI Director James B. Comey to get the bureau to back off its focus on former national security adviser Michael Flynn in its Russia probe.”
That occurred two days after Comey publicly confirmed that the FBI was investigating the Trump campaign for possible collusion with Russia.
The Post report is a bombshell — it suggests Trump tried to use one intelligence agency against another to stifle an ongoing investigation of his associates. That’s almost exactly what President Nixon did in a failed attempt to quash the Watergate probe that eventually brought down his presidency.
The Post reports that after the briefing, Coats — who was alone in a room with Trump and CIA Director Mike Pompeo when Trump made his request — “discussed the conversation with other officials and decided that intervening with Comey as Trump had suggested would be inappropriate, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters.”
On Wednesday, Coats and other intelligence officials testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. During the hearing, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) — who last month said reports about Trump’s interactions with former FBI Director James Comey regarding the Russia probe get “very close to the legal definition of obstruction of justice” — become upset with Coats and other officials for declining to answer basic questions about their conversations with Trump.
It’s unclear exactly why Coats, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, and other intelligence officials were so tight-lipped. Rogers couldn’t point to any specific aspects of his conversations with Trump that were classified and hence not appropriate for a public forum. He also acknowledged that the White House did not give him a “definitive answer” as to whether they were invoking executive privilege, and thus he could cite no legal basis for not being forthcoming.
After acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told King that “I don’t know whether conversations along the lines that you have described fall within the purview of what the special counsel is now investigating,” King fired back, saying, “I don’t understand why the special counsel’s lane takes precedence over the lane of the United States Congress and an investigative and oversight committee.”
Rogers, for his part, ultimately cited his feelings in an effort to cut off King’s line of questioning — “I feel it is inappropriate,” he said, in reference to why he wasn’t being more forthcoming about his conversations with Trump.
“What you feel isn’t relevant,” King replied. “Why are you not answering the questions?”
“I stand by the comments I made,” Rogers said. “I’m not interested in repeating myself.”
This exchange: King presses McCabe, Rogers, Coats on refusal to discuss convos w/ Comey & Trump, demands legal basis https://t.co/UoGXtJlTQT
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 7, 2017
King wasn’t the only senator who was frustrated by the intelligence officials’ refusal to answer questions. Later during the hearing, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) became animated after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said, “when there is a Justice Department investigation, we do not discuss it publicly.”
“Is that the rule for the President of the United States as well?” Warner interjected. “Because that is what the questions are being asked about — reports that nobody has laid to rest here, that the President of the United States has intervened directly in an ongoing FBI investigation, and we’ve gotten no answer from any of you.”
Sen. Mark Warner to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at hearing: "We've gotten no answer from any of you." https://t.co/g2mCKkEkXv pic.twitter.com/sgiXrXVKDF
— CNN (@CNN) June 7, 2017
At another point, Coats directly addressed the Post report. But instead of addressing the substance, he said he “did not want to publicly share what he thought were private conversations with the President of the United States, most of them — almost all of them — intelligence related and classified. I didn’t think it was appropriate… for the Post to report what it reported.”
This McCain exchange with DNI Coats is amazing; says it’s “Orwellian” Coats won’t discuss what’s already in WashPost https://t.co/kBsehk8CDw
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 7, 2017
But the intelligence officials’ reluctance to talk went far beyond classified information. Rosenstein wouldn’t answer questions posed by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) about the memo he wrote that was cited by Trump to justify Comey’s firing, instead repeatedly directing them to Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
“At this point, you filibuster better than most of my colleagues,” Heinrich told Rosenstein in response.
At another point, Heinrich pressed Coats about the conversation with Trump detailed by the Post, telling him, “I don’t care how you felt, I’m not asking whether you felt pressured, I’m simply asking — did that conversation occur?”
“And once again senator, I will say that I do believe it is inappropriate to discuss that in any open setting,” Coats replied.
“You realize how simple it would simply be to say, ‘No, that never happened,’” Heinrich said. But Coats held his ground, saying “I do not share with the general public conversations that I had with the president or with many of my colleagues within the administration.”
“I think your unwillingness to answer a very basic questions speaks volumes,” Heinrich replied.
This is an important exchange btwn DNI Coats and Sen. Heinrich on Coats' refusal to share details of discussions with Trump. (via @MSNBC) pic.twitter.com/vzxAiJQjum
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 7, 2017
When they weren’t outright refusing to answer, the officials parsed their words very carefully. At one point, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) asked the group, “has anyone ever asked you, now or in the past — this administration or any administration — to issue a statement that you knew to be false?”
“I’ve never been directed to anything to do anything in the course of my three-plus years as the director of the National Security Agency that I felt to be inappropriate, nor have I felt pressured to do so,” Rogers said.
But Rubio, aware of how Rogers dodged his question, clarified — “not directed, asked,” he said.
“I stand by my previous statement, sir,” Rogers said.
Rubio: Can you say Trump/WH never asked you to influence an investigation?
DNI Coats: “I’m not prepared to answer your question today.” pic.twitter.com/I1aplhGC4a
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 7, 2017
Coats, for his part, refused to respond to Rubio’s line of questioning pertaining to the Post report.
Rachel Cohen, press secretary for Sen. Warner, tweeted that Special Counsel Mueller “hasn’t imposed any restriction on the witnesses. They imposed it themselves because they don’t want to answer questions.”
“‘I don’t wanna’ is NOT a valid defense to refuse to answer questions posted by the U.S. Congress,” she said.