Report: Trump Asked Intelligence Chiefs to Deny Evidence of Campaign’s Collusion With Russia
President Donald Trump asked two of the country’s most senior intelligence officials to publicly deny the existence of any evidence linking his presidential campaign with Russian efforts to undermine the American political process, The Washington Post reported on Monday evening. According to the Post, Trump appealed to Daniel Coats, the director of national intelligence, and to Admiral Mike Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, after then-FBI Director James Comey told the House Intelligence Committee that the bureau was investigating “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government.” The Post also reports that White House officials asked intelligence officials about the possibility of directing Comey to end the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, apparently out of a lack of understanding of how much influence the president has over FBI investigations. “The White House does not confirm or deny unsubstantiated claims based on illegal leaks from anonymous individuals,” a White House spokesperson an anonymously said of the report. “The president will continue to focus on his agenda that he was elected to pursue by the American people.”