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Russia hearing: Comey says no information to confirm Trump's wiretap claims – as it happened

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James Comey and Mike Rogers appear before the House intelligence panel while Trump’s supreme court pick Neil Gorsuch has a confirmation hearing

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in New York
Mon 20 Mar 2017 16.28 EDTFirst published on Mon 20 Mar 2017 08.55 EDT
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The House intelligence committee hearing on Russian tampering in the US election has wrapped, as has day one of judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings. Here’s what happened:

  • FBI director James Comey announced for the first time that “the FBI, as part of our counter-intelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”
  • Trump campaign figures mentioned at the hearing included Michael Flynn, Carter Page, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, JD Gordon, Jeff Sessions and Kellyanne Conway. Comey declined to say whether the president was or is being personally investigated.
  • Comey knocked down Trump’s assertion on Twitter that Barack Obama had “wire tapped” him. “We do not have any information that supports those tweets,” Comey said.
  • Republican chairman Devin Nunes admitted that “We know there was not a physical wiretap at Trump Tower. However it is possible that other surveillance technology was used against President Trump and his associates.”
  • Tweets sent from the @potus account during the hearing mischaracterized Comey’s testimony and that of NSA director Michael Rogers. One tweet said the witnesses had told Congress that Russia “did not influence electoral process”.
  • Comey was asked about the tweet. “We’ve offered no opinion, have no view, have no information on potential impact, because it’s not something we’ve looked at,” Comey said. “It certainly wasn’t our intention to say that today.”
  • Rogers denied a White House claim that the Obama administration asked GCHQ to conduct surveillance on Trump, saying it would have been a violation of US law to ask the British to conduct such an operation.
  • Republicans called for punishment for anyone who leaked classified information to the press, concerning Flynn’s contacts with Russian operatives or other issues. One member promised to grill former CIA director John Brennan and former director of national intelligence James Clapper about leaks next week.
  • It emerged that the FBI investigation of Russian tampering was launched in late July, although the public did not learn of the investigation for months, well after the FBI saw fit to announce its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails.
  • The first day of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings began with lengthy statements by Senate judiciary members and with an opening statement by Gorsuch.
  • Gorsuch was advised by Democrats to publicly and explicitly reject Trump’s attacks on the independence of the judiciary. Gorsuch, looking relaxed, quipped, “I appreciate all of the attention.”
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Republicans urge FBI haste in concluding investigation

Nunes asks Comey about specific administration figures. Nunes asks whether Comey has “any evidence that any current White House official coordinated with Russian” operatives.

“I’m not going to comment on that,” Comey says. “Don’t overinterpret the fact that I say I can’t comment, I’m not going to comment on anybody.”

Kellyanne Conway?

Nope, no comment.

Nunes voices frustration, at how the FBI investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia is inconvenient:

There is a big gray cloud that you’ve now put over people who have very important work to do to lead this country. So the faster that you can get to the bottom of this” the better.

Gavel. That’s it for the hearing today.

Comey: back to work.

[As soon as Trey Gowdy gets done talking?]

In any case, the intelligence committee hearing is winding down.

Comey says he didn't want to testify today, but "now we're going to close our mouths and do our work"

— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) March 20, 2017

After Gorsuch’s opening statement, the senate judiciary committee adjourns. They’ll be going all week, folks.

Comey says that if he had to do it all over again, “We would have sent up a much larger flare,” meaning he would have raised a more urgent alarm about Russian hacking at the DNC, and sooner.

“I might have walked over there myself, knowing what I know now,” Comey said, referring to the DNC.

He said the FBI had to notify more than a thousand organizations of the Russian tampering attempts.

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Gorsuch reads opening statement

Trump’s supreme court nominee has just told his wife he loves her very much. Now he is narrating his biography. He’s smiling, turning on the charm. Here’s the video feed again:

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Heck, the Washington Democrat, calls the facts of the FBI investigation “dirty” and “sleazy.” He says that Trump is historically compromised.

“We’ve heard nothing but terribly disturbing evidence of what has happened to our country at the hands of our greatest adversary,” Heck says.

The evidence indicates “that this was in part an inside job,” Heck says.

Correction: This post has been updated to reflect that Heck is from Washington not DC.

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Rep Elise Stefanik of New York, a Republican, asks why it took the FBI months to notify Congress of its investigation into Russian election tampering, an investigation that opened in June 2016.

“Because of the sensitivity of the matter,” Comey says.

Stefanik then gets Comey to acknowledge that Russian hacking targeted both Republican- and Democratic-affiliated entities. But he doesn’t specify what Republican outfits were targeted.

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Here’s video of the moment when Trump’s tweets about the intelligence hearing were fact-checked at the intelligence hearing (the fact check concluded: tweets not accurate but we apologize if we failed to make ourselves clear).

Lol they're just fact-checking tweets now pic.twitter.com/OZzgGb8dhj

— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) March 20, 2017

Rick Crawford, Republican of Arkansas, extends thanks on behalf of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for the FBI’s helping to recover his stolen Super Bowl jersey, Comey’s under-oath hatred of the Patriots notwithstanding. What does this guy from Arkansas have to do with the Patriots?

Comey says he hates the Patriots because of their “sustained excellence” which offends him as a New York Giants fan.

Basically, he’s sick of winning.

Comey: Russia targeted voter registrations rolls, not voting machines or tabulation

Denny Heck, Democrat of Washington, asks Comey what elections apparatus Russia targeted, exactly.

Not voting machines, Comey says: “We saw no indication of that.”

They saw “efforts to penetrate state boards of election, voter registration databases.” But not to penetrate the vote itself. “Their efforts were aimed at voter registration systems in various states...” not as far as the FBI knows at “voting machines, vote tabulation.”


Correction: This post has been updated to reflect that Heck is from Washington not DC.

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Comey declines comment on whether Manafort subject of investigation

Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas: “the coincidences keep piling up.”

He asks: Is Paul Manafort a subject in your investigation?

Comey: I’m not going to comment on that.

Comey and Rogers contradict Trump tweets about what they said earlier

Himes, the Connecticut Democrat, gets Comey and Rogers to knock down the Trump tweets in real time.

First Himes reads Trump’s tweet that Comey and Rogers had testified “that Russia did not influence electoral process.”

“I haven’t been following anybody on Twitter while I’ve been sitting here,” Comey says.

“This tweet has gone out to millions of Americans, 16.1m to be exact,” Himes says. “Is that accurate?”

Comey says they have not testified about the potential impact of Russia’s tampering on the vote tally:

We’ve offered no opinion, have no view... on potential impact, because it’s not something that we’ve looked at... It certainly wasn’t our intention to say that today because we don’t have any information on that subject. And it wasn’t something that was looked at.

Himes asks Rogers about a second Trump tweet, “NSA Director Rogers tells Congress unmasking individuals endangers national security.”

“I assume the comment is designed to address the leaking of such information,” Rogers says. But he hasn’t read it.

Lol they're just fact-checking tweets now pic.twitter.com/OZzgGb8dhj

— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) March 20, 2017
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Comey, describing Russia’s disposition on Trump, falls back on a football analogy.

“I hate the New England Patriots, and no matter who they play I would like them to lose,” he says. “The hatred for Mrs Clinton was all the way along. When Mr Trump became the nominee, there was some sense that it would be great if he could win, it would be great if we could help him” but at least we have to hurt her if we can.

Rogers jumps in and says they had a lot of evidence pointing in the same direction, in terms of Russia’s preferences, actions and intentions. “There’s a reason why we had a high level as confidence in everything.”

I don’t know him, I’ve never met him, and we never got along.

Wow - Spicer now describing Manafort as playing a "very limited role" for a "very limited" time. He was chairman of the campaign!!!

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 20, 2017

Why would you tell such embarrassing falsehoods unless you were worried about what Comey might turn up? https://t.co/8HuuqgbbrD

— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) March 20, 2017

More on this story

More on this story

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  • Trump-Russia investigation reignites as Senate asks aides to hand over notes

  • Mike Flynn under formal investigation by Pentagon over payments from Russia

  • Michael Flynn's Russia payment likely broke disclosure laws, lawmakers say

  • Trump mocked for adding one of his own tweets to Twitter banner

  • Russia 'targeted Trump adviser in bid to infiltrate campaign'

  • Russian thinktank gameplanned undermining of US election, sources say

  • Ukraine president says sanctions keep Russian tanks out of central Europe

  • Donald Trump says US relations with Russia 'may be at all-time low'

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