met with hope hicks in the situation room at least twice and gave her the names of the russians that contacted her and said that they were not who they claimed to be. the fbi was concerned the e-mails may have been part of a russian intelligence operation. the meetings with hicks what the fbi calls a defensive briefing went beyond the standard security advice they receive upon taking office. defensive briefings are intended to warning government officials about specific concerns or risks. so after hope hicks had her two big days of interviews, testimony with the muller investigators thursday and friday, that was the reporting from the new york times that followed. now today, nbc news has this scoop. quote, special counsel robert mueller is trying to piece together what happened in the white house over an 18-day period when senior officials were told michael flynn was susceptible to blackmail by russia.