- Title: Ex-CIA chief Brennan testifies before House Intelligence Committee
- Date: 23rd May 2017
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MAY 23, 2017) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) FORMER CIA DIRECTOR JOHN BRENNAN ARRIVING FOR TESTIMONY, SITTING DOWN WIDE OF PANEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER CIA DIRECTOR JOHN BRENNAN SAYING: "It should be clear to everyone that Russia brazenly interfered in our 2016 present election process and that they undertook these activities, despite our strong protests and expose a warning that they not do so." WIDE OF PANEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER CIA DIRECTOR JOHN BRENNAN SAYING: "Now the Russians are watching very carefully what's going on in Washington right now and they will try to exploit it for their own purposes and to see whether not they can further, I think, seed partisan animosity here in Washington and try to roil the waters - the political waters here. And so even though the election is over, I think Mr. Putin and Russian intelligence services are trying to actively exploit a what is going on now in Washington to their benefit and to our detriment." PANEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOUTH CAROLINA CONGRESSMAN REP. TREY GOWDY SAYING: "Did evidence exist of collusion, coordination, conspiracy, between the Trump campaign and Russian state actors at the time you learned of 2016 efforts?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER CIA DIRECTOR JOHN BRENNAN SAYING: "I encountered and am aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign that I was concerned about because of known Russian efforts to suborn such individuals and it raised questions in my mind, again, whether or not the Russians were able to gain the cooperation of those individuals. I don't know whether or not such collusion - and that's your term, such collusion existed. I don't know. But I know that there was a sufficient basis of information and intelligence that required further investigation by the bureau to determine whether or not U.S. persons were actively conspiring, colluding with Russian officials." WIDE OF PANEL
- Embargoed: 6th June 2017 17:02
- Keywords: campaign election Putin collusion Trump Russia CIA Brennan
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016I291ZB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Former CIA Director John Brennan said on Tuesday (May 23) it became clear last summer that Russia was attempting to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, and that he warned the head of Russia's FSB security service that such interference would hurt U.S. ties.
"It should be clear to everyone Russia brazenly interfered in our 2016 presidential election process and that they undertook these activities despite our strong protests and explicit warning that they do not do so," Brennan testified at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
Brennan said he did not know whether President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia but that he saw "information and intelligence that was worthy of investigation."
Republican Representative Trey Gowdy asked Brennan, "Did evidence exist of collusion, coordination and conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian state actors?"
"I encountered and am aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign that I was concerned about because of known Russian efforts to suborn such individuals and it raised questions in my mind, again, whether or not the Russians were able to gain the cooperation of those individuals," Brennan replied.
He declined to elaborate, saying the information was classified. The hearing was due to go into closed session to discuss classified information after Brennan's public testimony.
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in January that Moscow tried to tilt the November presidential election campaign in Republican Donald Trump's favor, including by hacking into and leaking the emails of senior Democrats. Moscow has always denied the allegation.
The early months of Trump's presidency have been clouded by FBI and congressional probes into Russian meddling and possible collusion by Trump's campaign. Trump has denied any collusion. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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