Derek Reinbold  //  3/26/17  //  Topic Update

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Senator John McCain has called for a Senate Select Committee or Independent Commission to investigate Russian interference and possible collusion by the Trump campaign (WaPo).

• Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes have recapped their arguments for why a select committee is superior to an independent commission (Lawfare).

Senator Mark Warner wants the Senate Intelligence Committee to speak with President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort as part of its investigation (The Hill).

• A Ukrainian lawmaker alleged that newly released financial documents demonstrate that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort laundered payments from a Ukrainian political party with ties to Moscow (Washington Post).

Representative Devin Nunes claims that U.S. intelligence incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump Transition (NYT, CNN, The Hill).

• Benjamin Wittes, Susan Hennessey, and Quinta Jurecic offer analysis at Lawfare.
• Ryan Goodman and Andy Wright explain at Just Security that President Trump is focusing on leaks as a (problematic) defense to the Russia Investigation.

Representative Adam Schiff, Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said that there is “more than circumstantial evidence” of Trump associates’ collusion with Russia (Politico).

• At Just Security, Kate Brannen looked at what he might mean by “more than circumstantial.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) discussed Russian intervention in elections in the United States and Europe in a speech to the Brookings Institution (Lawfare). 

Before the House Intelligence Committee, FBI Director James Comey confirmed the agency is investigating whether the Trump Campaign colluded with Russia to influence the election (NYT, WaPo, WSJ).

• President Trump tweeted “the NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence electoral process.”
• Director Comey’s testimony is bad for President Trump, explains Benjamin Wittes at Lawfare, where Adam Klein also offers additional takeaways from the hearing.
• The Russia-Trump timeline is described at Just Security, which also offers analysis of Monday’s dramatic hearings.

CNN reports: "The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign."

Investigations into Russian interference in the presidential election by the Senate Intelligence Committee, House Intelligence Committee, and FBI have been muddled by overlapping agendas and political sniping, the New York Times reports.

The Constitution's Treason Clause may apply to U.S. persons complicit in election-related Russian cyberattacks, as Rebeca Puckwalter-Poza notes in the Pacific Standard. 

Edward Snowden’s disclosure of NSA files may have encouraged Russia to engage in covert operations surrounding the 2016 election, argues Edward Jay Epstein (Lawfare).

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