The officials are Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey. They're preparing to point to multiple motives for Moscow's alleged meddling as they brief Trump on their classified report.
They briefed senior lawmakers Friday morning. They briefed President Barack Obama on Thursday.
Trump has been deeply skeptical of allegations that Russia was involved.
Several advisers were to join Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence for the briefing. That includes his incoming chief of staff and national security adviser and the chiefs of the CIA and Homeland Security department.
___
12:15 p.m.
President-elect Donald Trump says he'll ask Congress to investigate leaks to the media on U.S. intelligence alleging Russia meddled in last year's election by hacking Democratic emails.
Less than an hour before he was to be briefed Friday by the directors of the FBI and CIA and the Director of National Intelligence on their findings, Trump tweeted that he was "asking the chairs of the House and Senate committees to investigate top secret intelligence shared with NBC prior to me seeing it."
NBC aired a report Thursday that said the briefing would identify Russian actors involved in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee.
Trump has been deeply skeptical of the intelligence community's findings on Russia, suggesting that it was being used to de-legitimize his election.
___
12:05 p.m.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says he called Donald Trump on his cellphone a few days ago and the president-elect answered even though he didn't know who was on the line.
Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, recounted the episode Friday to reporters as an example of how accessible Trump and the rest of his transition team have been for him. Trump's nominee for secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, is scheduled to appear before Corker's committee next week for his confirmation hearing.
"On Sunday, I needed to talk to the president-elect about something," Corker says, "and I called him on his cellphone and he answered it and we talked."
Corker says his phone is programmed to read "no caller ID," but Trump took the call anyway.
___
11:45 a.m.
The U.S. intelligence community will release the declassified version of the intelligence report about Russian hacking of the U.S. presidential campaign on Friday afternoon.
That's according to a U.S. official who wasn't authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.
House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi appeared to reference the planned release during a morning news conference. Pelosi says the intelligence report was "quite a stunning disclosure" and added that parts will be released Friday.
The declassified version contains fewer details than classified versions being made available to Congress, President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump. But it's expected to shed more light on what evidence the U.S. government says it has that Russia was behind cyber interference in the campaign.
Obama had promised the report would be finished before he leaves office on Jan. 20.
__
10:35 a.m.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is responding to Donald Trump's taunting on Twitter. The former California governor says the president-elect should work as hard to represent all Americans as he did for TV ratings.
Schwarzenegger also quotes President Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address: "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies."
Early Friday, Trump mocked Schwarzenegger for low ratings in the spinoff of Trump's old reality television show, "Celebrity Apprentice." Trump said: "Wo much for being a movie star." Trump also referred to himself as a "ratings machine."
Schwarzenegger tweeted: "I wish you the best of luck and I hope you'll work for ALL of the American people as aggressively as you worked for your ratings."
___
10:05 a.m.
The Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is suggesting that portions of a secret intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election are being leaked to media organizations for political reasons.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee says he couldn't get any senior U.S. intelligence officials to attend a classified briefing his committee received Thursday on the administration's response to the alleged Russian hacking. He says he'll read a copy of the report next week along with other lawmakers.
"I can't get an intelligence person but I can read one of your publications this morning who's leaking out this information," Corker says. "It does make it feel political."
Corker says he believes the hacking report "is going to be very incriminating."
He says, "I believe the Russians have done very nefarious things."
Corker spoke at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.
___
9:45 a.m.
President-elect Donald Trump says he will meet Friday morning with the editors of Conde Nast, whose brands include Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair.
Trump says Vogue Editor Anna Wintour had asked him to meet with the editors, as well as with Steven Newhouse. Wintour backed Hillary Clinton during the election. Newhouse oversees digital strategy for Advance Publications, which owns Conde Nast and others.
In a tweet Friday, Trump says he "will go this AM."
___
7:55 a.m.
President-elect Donald Trump is taunting Arnold Schwarzenegger for bringing in low ratings in a spinoff of Trump's old reality television show, "Celebrity Apprentice."
In an early Friday tweet, Trump refers to himself as a "ratings machine" and says Schwarzenegger "got 'swamped'" by comparison.
He tweets "so much for being a movie star," and "now compare him to my season 1."
Trump added: "But who cares, he supported Kasich & Hillary," referring to Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich and Democrat Hillary Clinton, who both ran against him.
Schwarzenegger is a moderate Republican who said in October that he wouldn't vote for Trump, calling it a choice of "your country over your party." He's hosting "The New Celebrity Apprentice," in which Trump retains a producing stake.
___
7:30 a.m.
President-elect Donald Trump is urging supporters to attend his Jan. 20 inauguration.
Trump tweets early Friday that "hopefully, all supporters, and those who want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will go to D.C. on January 20th. It will be a GREAT SHOW!"
Trump will take the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States at noon that day. More than three dozen organizations have accepted invitations to take part in the inaugural parade after the swearing-in ceremony.
___
7:27 a.m.
President-elect Donald Trump says Mexico will reimburse taxpayers for a new border wall and that U.S. money spent will be for the "sake of speed."
Trump's aides are considering a plan to ask Congress to ensure money is available in U.S. coffers for the wall. But Trump would rely on existing law that authorizes fencing and other technology along the southern border.
The potential approach was confirmed by two congressional officials and a senior transition official with knowledge of the discussions; all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Trump said in a tweet Friday: "The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall (for sake of speed), will be paid back by Mexico later!"
No comments:
Post a Comment