Lawmakers Warned: Russia Is Helping Trump Again

The New York Times reports:

Intelligence officials warned House lawmakers last week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get President Trump re-elected, five people familiar with the matter said, in a disclosure that angered Mr. Trump, who complained that Democrats would use it against him.

The day after the Feb. 13 briefing to lawmakers, Mr. Trump berated Joseph Maguire, the outgoing acting director of national intelligence, for allowing it to take place, people familiar with the exchange said.

Mr. Trump cited the presence in the briefing of Representative Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who led the impeachment proceedings against him, as a particular irritant.

Read the full article.

Breaking via NYT: Intel officials warned House lawmakers last week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get Trump re-elected, five people familiar with the matter said. That angered Trump, who complained Dems would use it against him. https://t.co/OxTKMY3WPs

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 20, 2020

NEWS – here’s what intel briefers told House members that infuriated Trump https://t.co/ikpojUA5x0

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 20, 2020

UPDATE: Now we know why Grenell was nominated.

President Trump erupted at his acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, in the Oval Office last week over what he perceived as disloyalty by Maguire’s staff, which ruined Maguire’s chances of becoming the permanent intelligence chief, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump announced on Wednesday that he was replacing Maguire with a vocal loyalist, Richard Grenell, who is the U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Maguire had been considered a leading candidate to be nominated for the post of DNI, White House aides had said. But Trump’s opinion shifted last week when he heard from a GOP ally that the intelligence official in charge of election security, who works for Maguire, gave a classified briefing last Thursday to the House Intelligence Committee on 2020 election security.