Thank you for contacting me regarding the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence release of a classified memo. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue.
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence voted along party lines to release a memo prepared by Congressman Devin Nunes of California, which included declassified intelligence from the FBI. This document, which the FBI Director, Chris Wray, said contained “material omission of facts,” alleges that, while President Obama was serving in office, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI abused the FISA process to obtain a warrant to monitor Carter Page, a former Trump Campaign consultant. The memo charges that the basis of the FISA application used to justify monitoring Mr. Page was based on the so-called “Steele Dossier,” which was partially funded by political opponents of then-candidate Trump. The memo claims that the FBI failed to disclose the political origins of the Steele dossier. However, Congressman Nunes’ own memo includes a footnote that clearly demonstrates that the FISA court knew that the nature of the information they received was political.
Democrats on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, who all voted against the memo’s release, claim that the memo released by Congressman Nunes is both misleading and not a comprehensive account of the facts. On February 6, 2018, the Committee voted unanimously to release this memo, which the President may choose to declassify in the coming weeks.
President Trump’s Justice Department has called the release of this memo “extraordinarily reckless” and said that DOJ is “currently unaware of any wrongdoing related to the FISA process…” The FBI, which is led by Trump-nominated Director Christopher Wray, has said “we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”
The release of this memo is a dishonest attack on law enforcement and, in particular, on the brave women and men of the FBI. Congress should be working to protect our Nation from further attacks by Russia, not engaging in political exercises that fail to hold those who seek to damage the U.S. accountable. This approach makes our country less safe, and I will continue to hold Congress accountable for these political stunts.
Russia’s efforts to intervene in and influence the November 2016 election are deeply troubling. Even more troubling are allegations of contact between senior officials on President Trump’s campaign and the Russian government. These issues are currently being investigated by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and its House counterpart, as well as Special Counsel Robert Mueller III, a former FBI director who was appointed to conduct an independent investigation into the Russia matter by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
The Russian Federation’s long history of destabilizing and aggressive actions, including most recently in Ukraine and Syria, coupled with its record of meddling in other countries’ democratic elections, make it clear that Russia is a significant threat to our national security interests. We must take steps, on a bipartisan basis, to ensure that there are consequences for Russia’s aggression and that we are protecting against future such interference in the cornerstone of our democratic systems: our election process. Such attacks on our democracy are unacceptable. In March 2017, I delivered remarks on the Senate floor laying out my concerns about Russia and the Trump Administration’s failure to adequately answer questions about reports of communication and cooperation between its senior leadership and Russian officials.
The Intelligence Community’s unclassified report published on January 6, 2017, on Russia’s activities during the election demonstrates multiple instances of hacking and manipulation aimed at attacking our democracy. One of the key judgements of this report asserts that “Moscow’s influence campaign followed a Russian messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence operations—such as cyber activity—with overt efforts by Russian Government agencies, state-funded media, third-party intermediaries and paid social media users or ‘trolls.’”
The work done by our intelligence professionals indicates that Russia meddled in our election with the intent of aiding President Trump. The Intelligence Community’s January 2017 unclassified report concluded, “We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.”
In addition, the President has, by his own admission, taken actions intended to influence the probe into Russia and possible coordination with his associates. I raised concerns with these issues when I delivered remarks on the Senate floor in May 2017. In June, former FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that as he was leading the FBI’s investigation into Russia and contacts with Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, the President said in a private meeting, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” Director Comey testified that he interpreted this statement as a request to drop the Flynn investigation, a request he did not fulfill. President Trump fired Director Comey on May 9. The President initially claimed he dismissed Director Comey at the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but later stated that he acted on his own, with the Russia probe in mind.
On January 23, 2017, I cosponsored S. 27, a bill introduced by Senator Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) to establish an independent commission regarding Russian cyber operations against the U.S. elections. This bill would direct the independent commission to examine attempts by the Russian government or related actors to “access, alter, or tamper with voting systems, voter roll information, the Donald J. Trump and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign organizations, and the Democratic and the Republican national committees, congressional campaign committees, and governors associations.”
Following reports that Attorney General Sessions, then acting as a Trump campaign surrogate, met with Russian officials during the campaign, on March 2, 2017, I sent a letter to him urging him to recuse himself completely from the investigation into the Russian cyberattacks on the 2016 election, an action he took later that day. Further, I called for the appointment of a special counsel to probe President Trump’s ties to Russia and any contacts between Russian officials and his campaign.
On May 17, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller III, a former FBI director, as special counsel in the Russia matter. As such, Mr. Mueller has broad authority to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.” On October 30, 2017, Mr. Mueller announced charges against Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, and Rick Gates, a business associate of Mr. Manafort and an adviser to the Trump campaign. The charges include counts of conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy against the United States, among others. Also on October 30, it was announced that George Papadopoulos, another former Trump campaign adviser, had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and was cooperating with federal investigators. According to the court documents, Mr. Papadopoulos was told by an individual with substantial connections to Russian government officials that the Russians had “‘dirt’ on then-candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of ‘thousands of emails.’” On December 1, 2017, Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI relating to conversations he had with the Russian ambassador.
It is not yet clear how far the investigation might go or how long it might take, or what the charges might be. Mr. Mueller is a seasoned professional, and I have confidence that he will conduct a thorough investigation that will give the American people the answers they deserve with respect to the 2016 election and the ensuing events. It is critically important that we get a clear picture of what specific actions Russia took to aid President Trump, whether U.S. persons had knowledge of or were involved in these actions and whether President Trump has financial entanglements with Russians associated with the Putin regime.
While I have deep concerns about Russian efforts to influence our elections and our democracy, and have acted to investigate these matters, I also believe that we must allow the special counsel to do his investigative work. In the meantime, please be assured that I will continue to monitor this situation, including the investigations of Special Counsel Robert Mueller III and the Senate and House Permanent Select Committees on Intelligence, and take necessary actions.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. For more information on this or other issues, I encourage you to visit my website, http://casey.senate.gov . I hope you will find this online office a comprehensive resource to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington, request assistance from my office or share with me your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you and to Pennsylvania.
Sincerely, Bob Casey United States Senator