Ex-CIA chief warned Russia about election meddling

Former CIA Director John Brennan told lawmakers Tuesday he personally confronted his Russian counterpart last August about interfering with the U.S. presidential election. “I believe I was the first U.S. official to brace Russia on this matter,” Brennan told the House Intelligence Committee in a public hearing. He said increasing intelligence last summer indicated Russia was actively working to undermine the U.S. election process to denigrate Hillary Clinton and boost Donald Trump. Brennan said he called Russia’s Federal Security Service head, Alexander Bortnikov, on Aug. 4 about his concerns and alerted senior congressional leaders. Republicans on the committee prodded Brennan to disclose whether he had seen any evidence of collusion between Russian officials and members of the Trump campaign. Brennan declined to answer directly but said he was aware of intelligence that showed interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign. Brennan said this does not mean collusion occurred, but given Russia’s intentions to interfere with the election, it makes the investigation “well-founded.”

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