Thread by @karolcummins

The Trump Justice Department secretly obtained Washington Post journalists’ phone records and tried to obtain their email records over reporting they did in the early months (Apr/July 2017) of the Trump administration on Russia’s role in the 2016 election. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

Background: In early August 2017 — days after the time period covered by the search of The Post reporters’ phone records — Sessions held a news conference to announce an intensified effort to hunt and prosecute leakers in government.

washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

These are the stories that tweaked the Trump adm:

📌Sessions discussed Trump campaign-related matters with Kislyak the Russian ambassador, (which he failed to disclose), U.S. intelligence intercepts show

July 21, 2017

washingtonpost.com/world/national…

And this:

The intelligence captured Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/…

At that point, the outlines of the Russian assault on the U.S. election were increasingly apparent. Hackers with ties to RIS had been rummaging through Democratic Party computer networks, as well as some Republican systems, for more than a year.

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/…

And this:

In July, the FBI had opened an investigation of contacts between Russian officials and Trump associates. And on July 22, nearly 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee were dumped online by WikiLeaks.

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/…

Previously the journalists below wrote this article:

Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House

By Adam Entous,
Ellen Nakashima and
Greg Miller
December 9, 2016

washingtonpost.com/world/national…