President Trump and his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani spent the week smearing the FBI and the special counsel, suggesting the FBI had implanted a spy in the Trump campaign. Trump, despite dozens of contacts between his campaign and Russian operatives, including a Trump Tower meeting in June 2016, keeps insisting there is “no collusion.” These are willful falsehoods.
If you wanted to get some clear-eyed, uncompromising explanations of the Russia investigation and Trump’s ongoing efforts to disrupt it (by firing FBI Director James B. Comey, threatening to fire Robert S. Mueller III, allegedly dangling pardons in front of potential defendants, working in tandem with Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California to release an intentionally misleading memo and now even threatening to imperil the life of a secret source), you didn’t need to look beyond Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and the committee’s ranking Democrat, Mark R. Warner (D-Va.)
They jointly released a statement about the committee’s findings Wednesday. “The first task in our inquiry was to evaluate the Intelligence Community’s work on this important piece of analysis. Committee staff have spent 14 months reviewing the sources, tradecraft, and analytic work, and we see no reason to dispute the conclusions,” said Burr. “There is no doubt that Russia undertook an unprecedented effort to interfere with our 2016 elections.” Warner echoed his colleague. “After a thorough review, our staff concluded that the [Intelligence Community Assessment’s] conclusions were accurate and on point. The Russian effort was extensive, sophisticated, and ordered by President Putin himself for the purpose of helping Donald Trump and hurting Hillary Clinton.” In short, they thoroughly debunked the House Republicans and other Trump toadies who’ve denied that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a campaign of his own to help elect Trump.
By Friday, Trump, Giuliani and House Republicans were bent on getting out another utterly false allegation, namely that the FBI improperly “planted” a spy in the Trump campaign. They threatened to reveal an American secret source, in a stunning betrayal of American security interests. Warner hit back in a statement issued Friday:
The first thing any new member of the Intelligence Committee learns is the critical importance of protecting sources and methods. Publicly outing a source risks not only their life, but the lives of every American, because when sources are burned it makes it that much harder for every part of the intelligence community to gather intelligence on those who wish to do us harm.
It would be at best irresponsible, and at worst potentially illegal, for members of Congress to use their positions to learn the identity of an FBI source for the purpose of undermining the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in our election. Anyone who is entrusted with our nation’s highest secrets should act with the gravity and seriousness of purpose that knowledge deserves.
Burr and Warner have continued to work in a bipartisan fashion to investigate the Russian plot to manipulate our election. They must continue to rebut utterly false, destructive claims against the Justice Department and FBI, making the case that Trump and House Republicans are acting out of personal, partisan reasons — violating their oath to protect and defend the Constitution. For what they have done already, we can say, well done, Senators Burr and Warner. And please, keep it up.