Exclusive: NSA Chief Admits Donald Trump Colluded With Russia – Observer
President Donald Trumps firing of FBI director James Comey continues to reverberate in the KremlinGate scandal, which threatens to consume the Trump administration. By abruptly removing Comey, then mangling his excuses for why he did so, Trump created a needless crisis for the White House which shows no signs of abating.
The impartial observer might think that Trump fired Comey because he feared what the FBIs counterintelligence investigation of the presidents contacts with Russia might revealas the commander in chief has essentially admitted. Moreover, Trumps inappropriate efforts to secure Comeys personal loyalty had fallen flatthe FBI director rightly assured the president of his honesty but abjured any fealty to Trump personallyafter which the president is reported to have developed a palpable fear of the incorruptible Bureau boss. To protect Team Trump, Comey had to go.
But cashiering Comey was insufficient. True to form, Trump seemingly tookthe offensive against the FBI. According to multiple reports, the president approached top intelligence bosses to coax them into joining Trumps personal war with Comey. In particular, Trump is reported to have asked Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence (DNI), and Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, to go public in denying that Team Trump had any ties to Russia during the 2016 election campaign.
The presidents take on the FBI investigation is well known, thanks to his frequent tweets castigating it as fake news, a hoax and even a witch hunt. However, asking top intelligence officials to publicly attack the FBI and its director isnt just unusualits unprecedented. Even President Nixon, in the depths of the Watergate scandal, which ultimately unraveled his administration, never went quite so far as to drag NSA into his public mess.
Admiral Rogers anecdotally flatlydenied Trumps request, whichif truewas inappropriate, unethical and dubiously legal, while Coats, a Trump appointee whos only been in the DNI job since mid-March, likewise refused to back the president against the FBI. This was a stunning setback for Trump, who seems to view our nations top security officials as his personal employees who ought to follow his presidential whim rather than the law and the Constitution, which all of them take an oath to defend.
Last week, when he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Coats declined to answer questions about the White Houses effort to undermine the FBI investigation of Team Trump, stating, I dont feel its appropriate to characterize discussions and conversations with the president in open session. Presumably DNI Coats would be more forthcoming in a closed Congressional session, where classified information can be revealed.
Director Rogers, in contrast, has made no public statements about the presidents effort to enlist him in his anti-Comey campaign. This is typical of his famously tight-lipped agencyfor decades, NSA was humorously said to stand for Never Say Anythingand why Trump approached Rogers is no mystery. As the nations signals intelligence force, NSA isnt just the biggest source of intelligence on earthits also the agency possessing the bulk ofthe classified information which establishes collusion between Trump and the Russians. Although whispers of such SIGINT have reached the media, the lions share remains hidden from public view, though its all known to the FBI.
If Trump could co-opt NSA in his fight with the Bureau, that would be a big win, protecting the White House from dangerous information, so its safe to assume that Rogers refusal burned Trump personally. Perhaps thats why, early this week, Admiral Rogers took the unusual step of addressing the entire NSA workforce to tell them what transpired with the president.
This is not Rogers style. Indeed, his tenure as NSAs director (called DIRNSA by insiders) has been characterized by distance from his employees, which has made things rockier than necessary. To be fair to Rogersa career intelligence officer well equipped for his current positionwhen he became DIRNSA in the spring of 2014, he inherited an agency in crisis.NSA was still reeling from the disastrous Ed Snowden affair, the biggest theft of classified information in espionage history.
While Snowden has taunted NSA with tweets sent from his Russian hideaway, more security disasters have followed. The strange case of Harold Martin, yet another rogue defense contractor who stole gigantic amounts of classified information from the agency, constituted another Snowdenesque embarrassment, even though theres no evidence that Martin was engaged in espionage.
Worse for Rogers was the theft of highly classified hacking tools from NSA by the so-called Shadow Brokers, which is widely believed to be a front for Russian intelligence. The dumping of those top-secret exploits online, after modification by rogue hackers, has resulted in worldwide cyberattacks impacting millionsyet another black mark on Rogers tenure as DIRNSA. In response to these very public setbacks, Rogers has seldom addressed the NSA workforce about them or much else.
This weeks town hall event, which was broadcast to agency facilities worldwide, was therefore met with surprise and anticipation by the NSA workforce, and Rogers did not disappoint. I have spoken with several NSA officials who witnessed the directors talk and Im reporting their firsthand accounts, which corroborate each other, on condition of anonymity.
In his town hall talk, Rogers reportedly admitted that President Trump asked him to discredit the FBI and James Comey, which the admiral flatly refused to do. As Rogers explained, he informed the commander in chief, I know you wont like it, but I have to tell what I have seena probable reference to specific intelligence establishing collusion between the Kremlin and Team Trump.
Rogers then added that such SIGINT exists, and it is damning. He stated, There is no question that we [meaning NSA] have evidence of election involvement and questionable contacts with the Russians. Although Rogers did not cite the specific intelligence he was referring to, agency officials with direct knowledge have informed me that DIRNSA was obviously referring to a series of SIGINT reports from 2016 based on intercepts of communications between known Russian intelligence officials and key members of Trumps campaign, in which they discussed methods of damaging Hillary Clinton.
NSA employees walked out of the town hall impressed by the directors forthright discussion of his interactions with the Trump administration, particularly with how Rogers insisted that he had no desire to politicize the situation beyond what the president has already done. Americas spies are unaccustomed to playing partisan politics as Trump has apparentlyasked them to do, and it appears that the White Houses ham-fistedeffort to get NSA to attack the FBI and its credibility was a serious mistake.
Its therefore high time for the House and Senate intelligence committees to invite Admiral Rogers to talk to them about what transpired with the White House. Its evident that DIRNSA has something important to say. Since Mike Rogers is said to have kept notes of the presidents effort to enlist him in Trumps personal war with the FBI, as any seasoned Beltway bureaucrat would do, his account ought to be impressively detailed.
John Schindler is a security expert and former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence officer. A specialist in espionage and terrorism, hes also been a Navy officer and a War College professor. Hes published four books and is on Twitter at @20committee.
Read the original here:
Exclusive: NSA Chief Admits Donald Trump Colluded With Russia - Observer
- CISA, NSA, and Partners Issue Annual Report on Top Exploited Vulnerabilities - HSToday - December 5th, 2024 [December 5th, 2024]
- Where Will The Top Amateurs at NSA Yamaha Land After the Team Closes? - Vurbmoto - December 5th, 2024 [December 5th, 2024]
- CISA, NSA, FBI and International Partners Publish Guide for Protecting Communications Infrastructure - HSToday - December 5th, 2024 [December 5th, 2024]
- Main players backing Syrian government have been weakened by other conflicts, NSA Sullivan says - NBC News - December 5th, 2024 [December 5th, 2024]
- Trump's incoming NSA Mike Waltz wants US to dance cheek-to-check with India - The Times of India - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- What Trump's NSA Nominee Said On India's Pivotal Role In The 21st Century - NDTV - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- Exclusive: Nakasone on exploding pagers, life after the NSA and another possible government job - The Record from Recorded Future News - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- FBI, CISA, and NSA reveal most exploited vulnerabilities of 2023 - BleepingComputer - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- CISA, NSA, and Partners Issue Annual Report on Top Exploited Vulnerabilities - National Security Agency - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- 6 Principles of Operational Technology Cybersecurity released by joint NSA initiative - Security Intelligence - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- It's official FBI, CISA, and NSA reveal the most exploited vulnerabilities of 2023 - TechRadar - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- Donald Trump picks Mike Waltz as US NSA: What it means for China and India - The Times of India - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- Who is Mike Waltz, Donald Trump's new NSA pick? What are his ties to India Caucus? - Firstpost - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- NSA should not oversee the management of national facilities RexDanquah - Citi Sports Online - November 14th, 2024 [November 14th, 2024]
- Trudeaus NSA admits to leaking secret intel alleging Indias interference to Washington Post - Firstpost - October 31st, 2024 [October 31st, 2024]
- White House dials NSA Ajit Doval: Here's what happened in the call - The Economic Times - October 31st, 2024 [October 31st, 2024]
- NSA Doval Stresses Need For Stable Indo-Pacific In Phone Call With US Counterpart Sullivan - News18 - October 31st, 2024 [October 31st, 2024]
- Director-General of NSA calls for continued support from government - GhanaWeb - October 21st, 2024 [October 21st, 2024]
- 5G Non Standalone Nsa Architecture Market to Reach USD 240.0 - openPR - October 21st, 2024 [October 21st, 2024]
- NSA meets with Minister Muir and DAERA to discuss industry concerns - Meat Management - October 21st, 2024 [October 21st, 2024]
- NSA cyber chief: Espionage is now Russias focus for cyberattacks on Ukraine - The Record from Recorded Future News - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- NSA Investigating If Chinese Hackers Breached US Telecoms - Yahoo Finance - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- NSA Issues Updated Guidance on Russian SVR Cyber Operations - National Security Agency - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- News - Honoring the Stars and Stripes: NSA Philadelphia Hosts Dignified Flag Disposal Ceremony - DVIDS - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- NSA's Program for Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Considered a Model for USG - National Security Agency - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- NSA investigating hack of three major telecommunications companies - Baltimore Sun - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- Honoring the Stars and Stripes: NSA Philadelphia Hosts Dignified Flag Disposal Ceremony [Image 8 of 8] - DVIDS - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- NSA Hiring Over a Thousand in the Next Year - ClearanceJobs - October 4th, 2024 [October 4th, 2024]
- What Its Really Like to Work at NSA - National Security Agency - October 4th, 2024 [October 4th, 2024]
- US Elections: Former NSA John Bolton Claims Both Harris And Trump Do Not Qualify To Be President | NewsX Exclusive - NewsX - October 4th, 2024 [October 4th, 2024]
- Honoring the fallen: Bells toll for Americas heroes at NSA Mechanicsburg - American Military News - October 4th, 2024 [October 4th, 2024]
- How often should you turn off your phone? Heres what the NSA says - PCWorld - October 4th, 2024 [October 4th, 2024]
- NSA and Allies Issue Advisory about PRC-Linked Actors and Botnet Operations - HSToday - September 28th, 2024 [September 28th, 2024]
- NSA warns that Active Directory is an "exceptionally large and difficult to defend" attack surface - The Stack - September 28th, 2024 [September 28th, 2024]
- News - Honoring the Fallen: Bells Toll for Americas Heroes at NSA Mechanicsburg - DVIDS - September 28th, 2024 [September 28th, 2024]
- National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA) Given Average Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages - MarketBeat - September 28th, 2024 [September 28th, 2024]
- Lack of Standard Stadiums: NSA boss sacked, facilities closed - What has been said and done so far - GhanaWeb - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- NSA and Allies Issue Advisory about PRC-Linked Actors and Botnet Operations - National Security Agency - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- UTEP Establishes Collaboration with DoD, NSA to Help Enhance U.S. Semiconductor Workforce - The University of Texas at El Paso - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- The NSA advises you to turn off your phone once a week - here's why - ZDNet - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- NSA Publishes Cyber Advisory on China-Linked Threat Actors - Executive Gov - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- Former NSA Director Nakasone opens new institute at Vanderbilt to train right type of leader - Washington Times - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- ACR lauds legislation that would fine insurers for delayed NSA payments - AuntMinnie - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- NSA threatens lawsuit over election rigging allegation, demands apology - Pulse Nigeria - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- NSA explains its work with private sector on election security and fighting foreign cyber threats - Washington Times - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- NSA to debut podcast to boost public awareness of classified missions - Nextgov/FCW - August 31st, 2024 [August 31st, 2024]
- In Beijing, Bidens NSA Calls Out Chinas Destablising Actions, Openly Supports Philippines - Hindustan Times - August 31st, 2024 [August 31st, 2024]
- Why the NSA advises you to turn off your phone once a week - ZDNet - August 31st, 2024 [August 31st, 2024]
- Getting into rhythm: NSA places high expectations on themselves for 2024 - Suffolk News-Herald - August 31st, 2024 [August 31st, 2024]
- NSA readying podcast to share untold stories of codebreakers missions - Washington Times - August 31st, 2024 [August 31st, 2024]
- Trump govt stopped aid to Pakistan over ISI's 'undeniable complicity' with terrorists: Ex-US NSA - Hindustan Times - August 31st, 2024 [August 31st, 2024]
- Top NSA researcher tapped to lead Pentagons UAP investigation hub - DefenseScoop - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- NSA Releases Guide to Combat Living Off the Land Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- With a little help from the National Archives, NSA finally releases Grace Hopper lecture. Watch it here. - MuckRock - August 27th, 2024 [August 27th, 2024]
- Trump administration NSA H.R. McMaster says there was "inconsistency" in foreign policy - CBS News - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- 'Putin exploited Trump's ego and insecurities': Former NSA in new book - The Times of India - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- NSA calls for urgent Government action on illegal sheep imports - Meat Management - August 14th, 2024 [August 14th, 2024]
- Sheikh Hasina Resignation LIVE Updates: Ex Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Meets NSA Ajit Doval At Hindon Airbase - NDTV - August 5th, 2024 [August 5th, 2024]
- NSA Claims It Cant Watch an Important Tape It Recorded in the 1980s - Gizmodo - July 17th, 2024 [July 17th, 2024]
- Letter to NSA Sullivan Requesting Assessment of Information Russia Has Shared with the PRC on U.S. Weapons Capabilities in Ukraine - Select Committee... - July 17th, 2024 [July 17th, 2024]
- The NSA Is Defeated By A 1950s Tape Recorder. Can You Help Them? - Hackaday - July 17th, 2024 [July 17th, 2024]
- Letter to NSA on Microsoft's Billion Dollar Partnership with UAE Firm G42 - Select Committee on the CCP | - July 17th, 2024 [July 17th, 2024]
- NSA Fast Pitch World Series kicks off with Skills Competition & Heavy Hitters Camp, featuring College World Series Champions from the University... - July 17th, 2024 [July 17th, 2024]
- NSA contractor bilked government for hundreds of hours she never worked - Washington Times - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- Signals intelligence has become a cyber-activity - The Economist - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- OpenAI adds former NSA chief to its board - CNBC - June 15th, 2024 [June 15th, 2024]
- Former head of NSA joins OpenAI board - The Verge - June 15th, 2024 [June 15th, 2024]
- Former NSA Head Joins OpenAI Board and Safety Committee - RetailWire - June 15th, 2024 [June 15th, 2024]
- Former NSA head joins OpenAI board and safety committee - TechCrunch - June 15th, 2024 [June 15th, 2024]
- OpenAI Appoints Cybersecurity Expert And Retired US Army Genera With NSA Pedigree To Board, Enhancing AI ... - Benzinga - June 15th, 2024 [June 15th, 2024]
- Former NSA head Paul Nakasone to helm national security institute at Vanderbilt - The Record from Recorded Future News - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- US is still chasing down pieces of Chinese hacking operation, NSA official says - The Record from Recorded Future News - March 18th, 2024 [March 18th, 2024]
- 6 CISO Takeaways from the NSA's Zero-Trust Guidance - Dark Reading - March 18th, 2024 [March 18th, 2024]
- St. John's M.S. in Cyber and Information Security Earns Key NSA Validation - St John's University News - March 18th, 2024 [March 18th, 2024]
- Senate votes to confirm Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh to lead CYBERCOM and NSA/CSS - United States Cyber Command - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- NSA Highlights AI, Partnerships in 2023 Cyber Review - MeriTalk - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- NSA Publishes 2023 Cybersecurity Year in Review - National Security Agency - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- Senate votes to confirm Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh to lead CYBERCOM and NSA/CSS - National Security Agency - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- NSA Reiterates Achievements in AI & Defense Against Russia, China in 2023 Cybersecurity Review - Executive Gov - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- NSA appoints new Cyber Command head | SC Media - SC Media - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]