JUST IN: Senate Intelligence Committee releases 5th & final report on #Russia #Election2016 meddling - on Russia’s attempts to gain influence in the American political system
intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/…
intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/…
The 5 bipartisan reports from the Senate Intelligence Committee based on “more than three years of investigative activity, more than 200 witness interviews, and more than a million pages of reviewed documents” per statement “All five volumes total more than 1300 pages”
Statement from Senate Intelligence Committee acting Chair @marcorubio:
“We can say, without any hesitation, that the Committee found absolutely no evidence that then-candidate Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with the #Russia|n government to meddle in the 2016 election...”
“We can say, without any hesitation, that the Committee found absolutely no evidence that then-candidate Donald Trump or his campaign colluded with the #Russia|n government to meddle in the 2016 election...”
“... “What the Committee did find however is very troubling” per @marcorubio “We found irrefutable evidence of #Russia|n meddling”
More @marcorubio “We discovered deeply troubling actions taken by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, particularly their acceptance and willingness to rely on the ‘Steele Dossier’ without verifying its methodology or sourcing”
Other key findings from 5th Senate Intel Committee report, per @marcorubio statement:
“#WikiLeaks actively sought, & played, a key role in the #Russia|n influence campaign & very likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort”
“#WikiLeaks actively sought, & played, a key role in the #Russia|n influence campaign & very likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort”
Other key findings from 5th Senate Intel Committee report, per @marcorubio statement:
“The @FBI gave the Steele Dossier unjustified credence... lacked a formal or considered process for escalating their warnings about the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hack“
“The @FBI gave the Steele Dossier unjustified credence... lacked a formal or considered process for escalating their warnings about the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hack“
Other key findings, per @marcorubio statement:
“at least 2 participants in a June 9, 2016, meeting w/Trump Campaign officials, Natalia Veselnitskaya & Rinat Akhmetshin, have significant connections to the #Russia|n gvt , including the Russian intelligence services...”
“at least 2 participants in a June 9, 2016, meeting w/Trump Campaign officials, Natalia Veselnitskaya & Rinat Akhmetshin, have significant connections to the #Russia|n gvt , including the Russian intelligence services...”
More from @marcorubio statement:
“...The Committee, however, found no reliable evidence that information of benefit to the Campaign was transmitted at the meeting, or that then-candidate Trump had foreknowledge of the meeting”
Re: June 9, 2016 mtg
“...The Committee, however, found no reliable evidence that information of benefit to the Campaign was transmitted at the meeting, or that then-candidate Trump had foreknowledge of the meeting”
Re: June 9, 2016 mtg
Other key findings from 5th & final report from Senate Intel Committee per acting chair @marcorubio 
NEW: Senate Intel Vice Chair @MarkWarner on 5th #Russia report:
“...the most comprehensive examination of ties btw Russia & the 2016 Trump campaign to date-a breathtaking level of contacts btw Trump officials &Russian gvt operatives that is a very real counterintelligence threat”
“...the most comprehensive examination of ties btw Russia & the 2016 Trump campaign to date-a breathtaking level of contacts btw Trump officials &Russian gvt operatives that is a very real counterintelligence threat”
"I encourage all Americans to carefully review the documented evidence of the unprecedented & massive intervention campaign waged on behalf of then-candidate Donald Trump by #Russia|ns & their operatives & to reach their own independent conclusions" per @MarkWarner
"This cannot happen again" Senate Intel Vice Chair @MarkWarner "As we head into the heat of the 2020 campaign season, I strongly urge campaigns, the executive branch, Congress & the American people to heed the lessons of this report in order to protect our democracy”
Fmr Intel Comm. Chair @SenatorBurr:
"When this investigation began 3 years ago, Vice Chairman Warner & I agreed that the Senate Intelligence Committee’s core responsibility would be to follow the facts wherever they might lead...Committee investigators have upheld their mission"
"When this investigation began 3 years ago, Vice Chairman Warner & I agreed that the Senate Intelligence Committee’s core responsibility would be to follow the facts wherever they might lead...Committee investigators have upheld their mission"
NEW: Senate Intel Committee #Russia report "reaffirms Special Counsel Mueller’s finding that President Trump did not collude with Russia" per @senatemajldr, in statement, adding " It confirms and sheds new light on Russia’s efforts to influence American politics"
More from @senatemajldr: New Senate Intel #Russia report "reminds us all yet again that the discredited Steele Dossier–itself an effort intended to influence the 2016 election–was compiled by a foreign national from dubious foreign sources, including potential disinformation"
From the Senate Intelligence report itself: #Russia|n government "engaged in an aggressive, multi-faceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election"
Findings look at key players and Russian activities
Findings look at key players and Russian activities
Senate Intel Comm report highlights relationship between Paul Manafort & #Russia oligarch Oleg Deripaska, starting in 2004
"The Committee found that Deripaska conducts influence operations...Russian gvt coordinates with & directs Deripaska on many of his influence operations"
"The Committee found that Deripaska conducts influence operations...Russian gvt coordinates with & directs Deripaska on many of his influence operations"
Senate Intel Committee found from 2004-2009 #Manafort "implemented these influence operations on behalf of #Deripaska, including a broad, multi-million dollar political influence campaign directed at numerous countries of interest to Deripaska & the Russian government"
But that wasn't #Manafort's only link to #Russia influence ops
"Pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs w/deep economic ties to Russia also paid Manafort tens of millions of dollars and formed strong ties with Manafort independent of #Deripaska" per Senate report
"Pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs w/deep economic ties to Russia also paid Manafort tens of millions of dollars and formed strong ties with Manafort independent of #Deripaska" per Senate report
Senate Intel report: @realDonaldTrump ex campaign manager Paul Manafort "continued to coordinate w/Russian persons, particularly Kilimnik & other individuals close to #Deripaska" after 2016 "on narratives that sought to undermine evidence that #Russia interfered" in #Election2016
"Taken as a whole, #Manafort's high-level access & willingness to share information w/individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik & associates of Oleg Deripaska, represented a grave counterintelligence threat" per Senate report
Senate Intel report concludes #Russia's Vladimir Putin ultimately behind the DNC hack & leak of docs
"Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian effort to hack computer networks & accounts affiliated with the Democratic Party & leak information damaging to Hillary Clinton"
"Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian effort to hack computer networks & accounts affiliated with the Democratic Party & leak information damaging to Hillary Clinton"
Senate Intelligence Committee findings on #WikiLeaks:
"WikiLeaks actively sought, and played, a key role in the Russian influence campaign & likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort"
"WikiLeaks actively sought, and played, a key role in the Russian influence campaign & likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort"
Senate Intelligence report on Trump campaign & #WikiLeaks / DNC hack
"The Trump Campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort"
"The Trump Campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort"
June 9, 2016 mtg w/#Russia|n lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya
"The Committee found evidence suggesting that it was the intent of the Campaign participants..to receive derogatory information...from a source known, at least by Trump Jr, to have connections to the Russian government"
"The Committee found evidence suggesting that it was the intent of the Campaign participants..to receive derogatory information...from a source known, at least by Trump Jr, to have connections to the Russian government"
"The Committee found no reliable evidence that information of benefit to the Campaign was transmitted at the meeting, or that then- candidate Trump had foreknowledge of the meeting" per the Senate report
For #Russia, June 9, 2016 mtg was part of broad campaign to roll back US sanctions, but "The Committee found no evidence that the meeting participants from the Campaign were aware of this Russian influence operation when accepting the meeting or participating in it"
Veselnitskaya & another June 9, 2016 mtg participant, Rinat Akhmetshin, "have significant connections to the Russian government, including the Russian intelligence services" per the Senate report
"The connections the Committee uncovered, particularly regarding Veselnitskaya, were far more extensive and concerning than what had been publicly known, and neither Veselnitskaya nor Akhmetshin were forthcoming with the Committee regarding those connections" per the report
"Both Veselnitskaya and Akhmetshin may have sought, in some cases, to obfuscate the true intent of their work in the United States" the report states
#TrumpTower - #Moscow deal
"While these negotiations were ongoing, Trump made positive public comments about #Putin in connection w/his presidential campaign" per the Senate report...
@MichaelCohen212, Felix Sater "sought to leverage Trump's comments...to advance the deal"
"While these negotiations were ongoing, Trump made positive public comments about #Putin in connection w/his presidential campaign" per the Senate report...
@MichaelCohen212, Felix Sater "sought to leverage Trump's comments...to advance the deal"
More on #TrumpTower - #Moscow deal
"The Committee found that [Felix] Sater did, in fact, have significant senior-level ties to a number of #Russia|n businessmen & former government officials, & was in a position, through intermediaries, to reach individuals close to #Putin"
"The Committee found that [Felix] Sater did, in fact, have significant senior-level ties to a number of #Russia|n businessmen & former government officials, & was in a position, through intermediaries, to reach individuals close to #Putin"
George Papadopoulos "had limited-if any-influence on the Campaign's policies" per the Senate report, but @GeorgePapa19 "continued to assert his affiliation with the Campaign and remained in contact with senior staff"
"Papadopoulos's efforts introduced him to several individuals that raise counterintelligence concerns" per report "...not a witting cooptee of the #Russia|n intelligence services, but nonetheless presented a prime intelligence target&potential vector for malign Russian influence"
Senate Intel Committee assesses Papadopoulos "likely learned about the Russian active measures campaign as early as April 2016...could not determine if Papadopoulos informed anyone on the Trump Campaign...though the Committee finds it implausible that Papadopoulos did not do so"
Carter Page
"The Committee found no evidence that Page made any substantive contribution to the Campaign or ever met Trump" per Senate report, but it says many questions remain about his activities
"The Committee found no evidence that Page made any substantive contribution to the Campaign or ever met Trump" per Senate report, but it says many questions remain about his activities
During multiple visits to #Russia in 2016 "Page met briefly w/a figure about whom the Intelligence Community has counterintelligence concerns" per Senate report "the Committee was unable to obtain a complete picture from Page or his document production abut his itinerary"
Maria Butina & Alexander Torshin
Senate Intel Committee "did not find that either Butina or Torshin was able to establish consistent contact with Trump Campaign officials or senior staff"
Senate Intel Committee "did not find that either Butina or Torshin was able to establish consistent contact with Trump Campaign officials or senior staff"
"The commoditization of these influence capabilities by for-profit firms...coupled w/deeply concerning foreign government & intelligence service ties to some organizations, were troubling enough to warrant additional Committee scrutiny" per Senate report
Transition Team
"The existence of a cadre of informal advisors...w/varying levels of access to the President-elect & varying awareness of foreign affairs presented attractive targets for foreign influence, creating notable counterintelligence vulnerabilities" per Senate report
"The existence of a cadre of informal advisors...w/varying levels of access to the President-elect & varying awareness of foreign affairs presented attractive targets for foreign influence, creating notable counterintelligence vulnerabilities" per Senate report
"The lack of vetting of foreign interactions by Transition officials left the Transition open to influence & manipulation by foreign intelligence services, government officials, and co-opted business executives" report warns
"...during the transition, several Russian actors not formally associated with the Russian Government attempted to establish contact with senior members of the Transition Team" per Senate report
Senate Intel Committee says it anticipated "it could face executive privilege claims from Obama Administration officials" but that "Obama Administration officials freely shared their conversations with then-President Obama and each other related to the #Russia threat"
Testimony from Susan Rice, Denis McDonough, Michael Daniel, Celeste Wallander, Jeh Johnson, Ben Rhodes, Samantha Power, Loretta Lynch, Sally Yates, Lisa Monaco & others "provided useful insights" per the committee
"The Committee did not anticipate, however, the multitude of novel & unprecedented potential executive privilege claims from the WHCO on behalf of members of President-elect Trump's Transition Team & the Transition itself, for communications before Trump took office" per report
"When pressed for any legal precedent or any opinion from OLC that supported the existence of executive privilege during the Transition, WHCO continually & solely relied on a letter from then-White House Counsel Don McGahn to" then House Intel Chair @DevinNunes
"Throughout 2017, the Committee's engagements with former Transition officials & entities representing the Transition elicited no assertions of potential executive privilege over the Transition" per Senate Intel Committee
"However, by March of 2018 and beyond, the Committee's interview and document requests to KT McFarland, Sarah Flaherty, Stephen Miller, Avi Berkowitz, & Steve Bannon
were all met by "potential assertions" of executive privilege during the Transition" the report says
were all met by "potential assertions" of executive privilege during the Transition" the report says
