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| Latest Developments on Comey: Acting F.B.I. Chief Contradicts White House | Latest Developments on Comey: Acting F.B.I. Chief Contradicts White House |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| ■ Andrew G. McCabe, the acting director of the F.B.I., is testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee. | ■ Andrew G. McCabe, the acting director of the F.B.I., is testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee. |
| ■ Mr. McCabe contradicted the White House’s assertion that James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director fired by President Trump this week, had lost the support of rank-and-file F.B.I. agents. | ■ Mr. McCabe contradicted the White House’s assertion that James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director fired by President Trump this week, had lost the support of rank-and-file F.B.I. agents. |
| ■ Mr. McCabe also said that the firing of Mr. Comey had not affected the Justice Department’s investigation of Russia’s meddling in the presidential election. | ■ Mr. McCabe also said that the firing of Mr. Comey had not affected the Justice Department’s investigation of Russia’s meddling in the presidential election. |
| ■ The committee’s top Democrat asked Mr. McCabe to tell senators about any efforts by the White House to intervene with the investigation. | ■ The committee’s top Democrat asked Mr. McCabe to tell senators about any efforts by the White House to intervene with the investigation. |
| The unfolding story over Mr. Trump’s abrupt firing of Mr. Comey hung over the hearing, infusing political theater into annual testimony by the nation’s top security officials about the biggest threats facing the United States. | The unfolding story over Mr. Trump’s abrupt firing of Mr. Comey hung over the hearing, infusing political theater into annual testimony by the nation’s top security officials about the biggest threats facing the United States. |
| Mr. McCabe rejected the White House’s assertion that Mr. Comey had lost the backing of rank-and-file F.B.I. agents, a pointed rebuke of what had been one of the president’s main defenses for the move. | Mr. McCabe rejected the White House’s assertion that Mr. Comey had lost the backing of rank-and-file F.B.I. agents, a pointed rebuke of what had been one of the president’s main defenses for the move. |
| “Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the F.B.I. and still does to this day,” Mr. McCabe said at the hearing. | “Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the F.B.I. and still does to this day,” Mr. McCabe said at the hearing. |
| “The vast majority of F.B.I. employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey,” he added. | “The vast majority of F.B.I. employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey,” he added. |
| — Adam Goldman | — Adam Goldman |
| The deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, met with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee this afternoon, arriving with a security detail as the public hearing was continuing. He declined to speak with reporters in the halls of the Senate. | |
| The meeting with Mr. Rosenstein had been requested by the committee, according to Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina and the chairman of the committee. “It’s a request we made prior to Director Comey’s departure, and it just so happened that the timing was it could just happen today,” Mr. Burr said. | The meeting with Mr. Rosenstein had been requested by the committee, according to Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina and the chairman of the committee. “It’s a request we made prior to Director Comey’s departure, and it just so happened that the timing was it could just happen today,” Mr. Burr said. |
| The discussion surely took on a new tone given the events of the last two days. At least part of the conversation centered on ensuring that the government’s inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election was free from conflicts of interest. | The discussion surely took on a new tone given the events of the last two days. At least part of the conversation centered on ensuring that the government’s inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election was free from conflicts of interest. |
| “We felt there was a great need to set up a process for deconfliction,” Mr. Burr said. “We were able to share that with the deputy attorney general, and we feel our investigations will go forward with a fairly good understanding of the rules of the road.” | “We felt there was a great need to set up a process for deconfliction,” Mr. Burr said. “We were able to share that with the deputy attorney general, and we feel our investigations will go forward with a fairly good understanding of the rules of the road.” |
| Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and vice chairman of the committee, called the private meeting “fairly productive,” but he quickly added, “I still have concerns about Mr. Rosenstein in terms of his role in the circumstances of Mr. Comey’s departure.” | |
| The senators noted they had asked Mr. Comey to brief them on Tuesday, but that as of this afternoon they had not heard back from him. | The senators noted they had asked Mr. Comey to brief them on Tuesday, but that as of this afternoon they had not heard back from him. |
| Mr. Rosenstein slipped out quietly as the senators addressed reporters. Mr. Burr and Mr. Warner then left to attend a closed-door meeting with intelligence officials. | Mr. Rosenstein slipped out quietly as the senators addressed reporters. Mr. Burr and Mr. Warner then left to attend a closed-door meeting with intelligence officials. |
| — Rebecca R. Ruiz | — Rebecca R. Ruiz |
| Mr. McCabe also said that the Justice Department’s investigation into whether any Trump associates colluded with Russia in the presidential election was “highly significant,” another direct contradiction of the White House. | Mr. McCabe also said that the Justice Department’s investigation into whether any Trump associates colluded with Russia in the presidential election was “highly significant,” another direct contradiction of the White House. |
| A day earlier, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, trying to parry accusations that Mr. Comey’s firing was related to the Russia inquiry, called it “probably one of the smallest things that they’ve got going on their plate” at the F.B.I. | A day earlier, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, trying to parry accusations that Mr. Comey’s firing was related to the Russia inquiry, called it “probably one of the smallest things that they’ve got going on their plate” at the F.B.I. |
| Mr. McCabe was also adamant that the firing of Mr. Comey had not affected the investigation. | Mr. McCabe was also adamant that the firing of Mr. Comey had not affected the investigation. |
| “The work of the men and women of the F.B.I. continues despite any changes in circumstances,” he said in response to a question from Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida. “There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date. Simply put, you cannot stop the men and women of the F.B.I. from doing the right thing.” | “The work of the men and women of the F.B.I. continues despite any changes in circumstances,” he said in response to a question from Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida. “There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date. Simply put, you cannot stop the men and women of the F.B.I. from doing the right thing.” |
| Mr. McCabe is likely to sidestep more delicate questions about the Russia inquiry from Democrats pressing him for information to keep the investigation dominant in the news. | |
| That is despite the efforts of the committee’s Republican chairman to keep the subject from dominating the day. | That is despite the efforts of the committee’s Republican chairman to keep the subject from dominating the day. |
| “Let me disappoint you,” Mr. Burr, the chairman, said as he opened the proceeding. “The purpose of today’s hearing is to review and highlight to the extent possible the ranges of threats we face as a nation,” he said, before listing dangers the United States faces, including cyberthreats, Islamist militants and North Korea. | |
| Although he is well known in the intelligence community, Mr. McCabe, a veteran F.B.I. agent, has little name recognition outside of Washington. He has dealt with Congress for years, but usually behind closed doors. | |
| A Duke University graduate with a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Mr. McCabe is considered a skilled briefer. He is something of wunderkind at the F.B.I., rising quickly in the organization to become deputy director in early 2016. But he is not universally loved among agents. | A Duke University graduate with a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Mr. McCabe is considered a skilled briefer. He is something of wunderkind at the F.B.I., rising quickly in the organization to become deputy director in early 2016. But he is not universally loved among agents. |
| Some inside the F.B.I. believe he did not work in the field long enough and rose too quickly to appreciate the concerns of agents. | Some inside the F.B.I. believe he did not work in the field long enough and rose too quickly to appreciate the concerns of agents. |
| Also testifying are Mike Pompeo, the director of the C.I.A.; Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence; Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency; and others. | |
| — Adam Goldman | — Adam Goldman |
| Mr. Warner, the top Democrat on the committee, sought assurances from Mr. McCabe that he would sound the alarm if the White House or others tried to intervene in the investigation into whether any of Mr. Trump’s associates colluded with Russia in its interference in the election. | |
| “While we don’t know how long you will be acting as F.B.I. director, my first questions for you, even in this public setting, will be for you to assure the committee that if you come under any political influence from the White House or others to squash this investigation, or impede it in any way, that you will let this committee know,” said Mr. Warner, who has called the committee’s own inquiry into Russian election interference “probably the most important thing I’ve done in public life.” | “While we don’t know how long you will be acting as F.B.I. director, my first questions for you, even in this public setting, will be for you to assure the committee that if you come under any political influence from the White House or others to squash this investigation, or impede it in any way, that you will let this committee know,” said Mr. Warner, who has called the committee’s own inquiry into Russian election interference “probably the most important thing I’ve done in public life.” |
| He called the firing of Mr. Comey “a shocking development.” | He called the firing of Mr. Comey “a shocking development.” |
| “It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the president’s decision to remove Director Comey was related to this investigation, and that is truly unacceptable,” he added. “Our committee will get to the bottom of what happened in the 2016 presidential election.” | |
| Mr. Burr asked whether Mr. McCabe was aware of Mr. Comey telling the president three times that he was not under investigation, as Mr. Trump claimed. Mr. McCabe said he could not comment on any conversations that Mr. Comey might have had with the president. | Mr. Burr asked whether Mr. McCabe was aware of Mr. Comey telling the president three times that he was not under investigation, as Mr. Trump claimed. Mr. McCabe said he could not comment on any conversations that Mr. Comey might have had with the president. |
| — Adam Goldman and Matthew Rosenberg | — Adam Goldman and Matthew Rosenberg |
| Democratic lawmakers were increasingly critical on Thursday of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Mr. Rosenstein, who wrote the 13-paragraph memo that Mr. Trump has said was the basis for Mr. Comey’s ouster. | |
| Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said she had read Mr. Rosenstein’s memo three times. | Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said she had read Mr. Rosenstein’s memo three times. |
| “With each read, I’ve become more troubled by the contents of this unusual document,” Ms. Feinstein said, expressing surprise that Mr. Rosenstein, a Justice Department veteran, had not offered a more thorough rationale, but instead referenced the public comments of some of his predecessors as deputy attorney general. | “With each read, I’ve become more troubled by the contents of this unusual document,” Ms. Feinstein said, expressing surprise that Mr. Rosenstein, a Justice Department veteran, had not offered a more thorough rationale, but instead referenced the public comments of some of his predecessors as deputy attorney general. |
| “Instead of a document that provides meaningful analysis, the memo reads like political document,” she said. “It includes quotes from op-eds and television appearances that are as old as six months. It doesn’t include any contemporary insights from inside the F.B.I. The memo appears to have been hastily assembled to justify a preordained outcome.” | |
| Ms. Feinstein, who has called for a special prosecutor in the Russia inquiry, demanded that Mr. Sessions and Mr. Rosenstein recuse themselves from selecting someone for such a role. | |
| “This issue should be handled by the most senior career attorney at the Justice Department,” she said. | “This issue should be handled by the most senior career attorney at the Justice Department,” she said. |
| — Rebecca R. Ruiz | — Rebecca R. Ruiz |
| For many years in a row, the worldwide threat assessment produced by the nation’s 16 intelligence agencies had been clear about the No. 1 threat: cyberattacks on the United States. The question is whether it stays No. 1. | |
| Mr. Trump was clear about his top threat during the campaign: what he called “radical Islamic terrorism.” He spoke often about immigration. He occasionally took up the topic of “the cyber,” as he termed it during the campaign, but his administration is still rewriting an executive order on cybersecurity that was supposed to be issued in the first days of his presidency. A deadline for a 90-day review of American cyberdefenses went by a few weeks ago with nary a word from the White House. | |
| Threat assessment is an art, not a science, and a decade ago, cybersecurity barely appeared in the annual report at all. But after a year in which the American election process became a victim of a combination of cyber- and information-warfare techniques, which caught the government unaware, it would seem to be a strange time to demote the ranking of the threat. | Threat assessment is an art, not a science, and a decade ago, cybersecurity barely appeared in the annual report at all. But after a year in which the American election process became a victim of a combination of cyber- and information-warfare techniques, which caught the government unaware, it would seem to be a strange time to demote the ranking of the threat. |
| — David E. Sanger | — David E. Sanger |
| Mr. Comey’s firing has led several lawmakers to call for an independent investigator or commission on top of the current investigations into potential links between Russia and the Trump campaign. | Mr. Comey’s firing has led several lawmakers to call for an independent investigator or commission on top of the current investigations into potential links between Russia and the Trump campaign. |
| In addition to the F.B.I.’s investigation, two congressional committees are pursuing inquiries into the matter. | In addition to the F.B.I.’s investigation, two congressional committees are pursuing inquiries into the matter. |
| See where things stand with the inquiries » | See where things stand with the inquiries » |
| After the president fired Mr. Comey, politicians on both sides of the aisle changed their attitudes toward the ousted F.B.I. director, whose farewell to his former colleagues had to be forwarded to agents on his behalf since he could no longer access the bureau’s email system. | After the president fired Mr. Comey, politicians on both sides of the aisle changed their attitudes toward the ousted F.B.I. director, whose farewell to his former colleagues had to be forwarded to agents on his behalf since he could no longer access the bureau’s email system. |
| Congressional reaction ranged from support for the decision to calls for a special prosecutor or an independent investigation to examine the ties between Mr. Trump’s associates and the Russian government — beyond the existing inquiries by Senate and House committees. View our collection of the lawmakers’ responses » | Congressional reaction ranged from support for the decision to calls for a special prosecutor or an independent investigation to examine the ties between Mr. Trump’s associates and the Russian government — beyond the existing inquiries by Senate and House committees. View our collection of the lawmakers’ responses » |