Monday, March 20

Analysis | Six big takeaways from Congress’s extraordinary hearing on Russia, President Trump and wiretapping

On Monday, unsubstantiated claims that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during last year's presidential campaign, substantiated claims about Russia's meddling in the U.S. election to help Trump win, and cloudy claims about Trump associates' ties to Russia all came to a head.

FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers testified before the House Intelligence Committee in a rare public hearing about what they know and what they want to know.
There was no smoking gun from either side's perspective, but we did learn more about what the FBI is investigating and what Republicans and Democrats in Congress want to investigate.
Below are are six takeaways from the hearing. (For the full rundown of what happened, read The Washington Post's national security team's report. You can also read the entire hearing's transcript.)

1. There's no evidence of Trump's accusation that Obama tapped his phones

Comey quickly confirmed where the last few weeks seemed to have have been leading: There is no evidence to back up President Trump's claim that Obama ordered the wiretapping his Trump Tower phones."I have no information that supports those tweets," Comey said.
But really, the whole wiretapping thing felt like a sidebar in this hearing to the FBI's broader investigation into Russia and any Trump associates' ties. That's in part because most lawmakers feel it IS a sidebar to the real issue: A foreign country interfered in a U.S. election with the intent of undermining the United States' political process.

2. The FBI is investigating connections between President Trump's campaign associates and the Russian government

This might seem to be an obvious takeaway. The Washington Post (and other news organizations) reported this two months ago.
But members of Congress have been extremely frustrated that, until Monday, the FBI has refused to privately acknowledge the existence of an investigation, let alone what it is looking into. (The FBI rarely acknowledges publicly the existence of an ongoing investigation except, in Comey's words, in "unusual circumstances.")
This, apparently, is one of those circumstances. On Monday, Comey told Congress and the world that, yes, the FBI is investigating Russia's meddling in the U.S. election. In addition, it is investigating whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and "whether any crimes were committed."

3. But the FBI is going to be VERY tight-lipped about the investigation

In the next breath, Comey said he is not going to share much else about the investigation other than it exists: "We just cannot do our work well or fairly if we start talking about it while we're doing it.

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