June 7 (UPI) — Two U.S. intelligence agency directors refused Wednesday to publicly say whether President Donald Trump asked them to intervene in investigations of possible collusion between Russia and Trump’s presidential campaign staff last year.
But Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers testified during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing they never felt pressured from Trump to impede investigations into Russian meddling of the election. On May 22, The Washington Post reported Trump asked Coats and Rogers to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, asked both of them during the hearing: “Are prepared to say you have never been asked?”
“I am not prepared to go down that road right now,” Coats said.
Coats declined to comment on May 23 before the Senate Armed Services Committee whether Trump asked him to publicly deny evidence exists of cooperation between his campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
Rogers also referred to earlier statements that he wouldn’t comment on conversations with the president. “I am not going to discuss the specifics of interactions that I may or may have not had with the president,” said Rogers, who has served as NSA director since 2014.
Both said they didn’t feel pressured by Trump.
“In the three plus years I have been director of the National Security Agency, to the best of my recollection, I have never been directed to do anything illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate,” Rogers said. “I do not recall ever feeling pressured to do so.”
Coats responded in a similar way: “In my time of service. I have never been pressured, I’ve never felt pressure to intervene or interfere, in any way, with shaping intelligence in a political way.”
Coats, who was appointed by Trump and is a former senator and congressman from Indiana, said he would answer questions about the matter during a closed hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
On Monday, The Washington Post reported Coats told associates in March that Trump asked him if he could intervene with then-FBI Director James Comey to get the bureau to back off its focus on former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Virginia, said in his opening statement: “If any of this is true, it would be an appalling and improper use of our intelligence professionals — an act that could erode the public’s confidence in our intelligence institutions. The [intelligence community] fiercely prides itself on its apolitical service to the country. Any attempt by the White House or even the president himself to exploit this community as a tool for political purposes is deeply, deeply troubling.”
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe were also scheduled to testify.
Comey, who was fired by Trump on May 9, is scheduled to testify before the same committee Thursday morning. Comey is expected to discuss a memorandum he wrote in which he said the president asked him to effectively shut down the Justice Department’s investigation.
