Yesterday, all unsubstantiated claims that President Barack Obama wire-tapped Trump Tower during last year’s presidential campaign, claims about Russia’s meddling in the U.S. election to help Trump win, and claims about Trump associates’ ties to Russia all came to a grinding halt.
The Director of the FBI James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers testified before the House Intelligence Committee in a public hearing about what they know and what they want to know..
Below are the six big things we got from the hearing;
1. There is no evidence of Trump’s accusation that Obama tapped his phones
The director was quick to confirm where the last few weeks seemed to have been leading: There is no evidence to back up President Trump’s claim that Obama ordered wiretapping of his Trump Tower phones.
“I have no information that supports those tweets,” Comey said.
FBI Director stated there’s no evidence of baseless wiretapping claim. Only remaining question: Does @POTUS have the decency to apologize? pic.twitter.com/4zy9jp9KEg
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 20, 2017
2. The FBI is investigating connections between the Russian government and President Trump’s campaign associates.
This might seem to be an obvious takeaway, various media reported this two months ago. But the house was obviously frustrated that up until yesterday
The FBI rarely acknowledges publicly the existence of an ongoing investigation except, in Comey’s words, in “unusual circumstances.”
3.The FBI is VERY tight-lipped about the investigation
Comey said he is not going to share much else about the investigation other than it exists: “We just cannot do our work well or fairly if we start talking about it while we’re doing it.”
4. Democrats seem pretty sure associates with Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia
The Democrats are suggesting that Russia’s involvement in the election and the lack of disclosure from Trump’s camp point to something more.
5. Republicans want to focus on intelligence leaks to the press
If the Democrats’ line of questioning focused on alleged Trump ties to Russia, Republicans zeroed in on charges that someone in the intelligence community was leaking intelligence to the media.
6. Intelligence officials still don’t think there’s any evidence Russia’s meddling directly influenced votes
Leave a reply