U.S. Intelligence Officials Are Testifying in the Senate
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Loading... - Agnes Lehnert
- 07 Jun 2020
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op U.S. intelligence officials are expected to face questions on President Trump and the federal investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Wednesday. Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe are on the witness list.
The session was formally scheduled to discuss the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the law that authorizes the government to spy on U.S. citizens in select circumstances. But it arrives one day ahead of the highly anticipated testimony of former FBI Director James Comey, who the president abruptly fired in May and who’ll appear before the same committee. It’s also taking place against the backdrop of a series of immediately controversial media reports, which have raised questions over Trump’s motivations to fire Comey and whether the president may have obstructed justice in the ongoing Russia investigation.
On Tuesday night, The Washington Post reported that Trump asked Coats in March if the director could compel Comey to ease up on the FBI’s inquiry into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Coats reportedly decided it “would be inappropriate” for him to do so, according to unnamed officials. That story followed another from the Post, published in May, asserting that Trump had previously asked both Coats and Rogers to publicly refute the possibility of collusion with Russia during the presidential election.
Like Coats, Rosenstein is likely to receive significant attention from senators. Trump cited Rosenstein in his decision to fire Comey, pointing to a memo drafted by the Justice Department official that criticized Comey’s handling of the FBI probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. In May, Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to head up the Russian inquiry as special counsel.
