Trump-Russia Investigation: CIA Director Saw Evidence Of Ties With Campaign

WASHINGTON, DC — Former Director of the CIA John Brennan confirmed Tuesday in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee that he saw concerning evidence tying individuals in the Trump campaign to Russian espionage operations. However, he said there was no definitive finding that collusion occurred.

He said that there was intelligence and information that "revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign." This evidence was cause for concern because of "known Russian efforts to suborn such individuals." He would not say which individuals were involved, because this information is classified, but he said this evidence was "worthy of investigation.
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Brennan served as CIA director from 2013 to 2017 under President Obama.

Last week, Reuters reported that there were at least 18 previously undisclosed contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials in the last seven months of the campaign, citing current and former U.S. officials.

However, based on the evidence Brennan was citing, he could not conclude that anyone in the Trump campaign "colluded" with the Russians in the efforts to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee released a statement following the testimony.

"Today's testimony by former CIA Director Brennan that the Russians brazenly interfered in our election, and that he became aware of interactions between Trump campaign officials and the Russians that warranted referral to the FBI further underscores the importance of our investigation," he said.

Brennan also added a word of warning to those who might be in contact with Russian intelligence operatives: "Frequently people who go along a treasonous path do not know they are on a treasonous path until it is too late."

The Trump White House has frequently denied that any evidence exists of suspicious connections between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence. After the testimony today, a White House spokesman said in a statement, "This morning's hearings back up what we've been saying all along: that despite a year of investigation, there is still no evidence of any Russia-Trump campaign collusion."

This claim was belied by former FBI Director James Comey's confirmation that the bureau was investigating potential collusion, which implied that there was at least enough evidence that further investigation was warranted. Further, it's a spurious conclusion to draw from Brennan's statements, since he left the position of CIA director in January and would be unaware of any developments in the investigation since then.

President Trump also previously mischaracterized former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's public remarks on the matter; Trump said Clapper claimed there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, while the former director had only ever said that he was not aware of any such evidence.

Clapper later clarified that there might be good reason for the FBI not to share any such evidence with him in his former post.

Brennan's remarks Tuesday represent a significant blow to the White House's defense in the investigation, which Trump has called a "witch hunt." While not direct evidence of collusion, Brennan's confirmation that Russian officials were trying to corrupt people in the Trump campaign along with evidence of contacts between the campaign and Russians constitutes smoke, if not fire.

Watch the testimony below:

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Correction: This article originally misstated the dates of Brennan's tenure as FBI director.

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images