Transcripts For CSPAN2 Former CIA Director I Saw Intelligence Information To Warrant... 20170524

Good morning. It is my habit and tradition seven with a quick prayer. We come before you humble in desperate need of your wisdom and guidance. We pray for the families and those affected by the bombing in manchester last night. A clear reminder of how dangerous this world is. We pray for healing for those involved in that horrific experience. We ask that you be with us this morning. We ask for your guidance and wisdom. In your name, amen. Good morning. I would like to welcome our witness, john brennan. Thank you for being for a green ticket be with us for agreeing to be with us this morning. I would like to offer up our prayers for the deceased and injured. Of thegedy reminds us crucial role our Intelligence Committees. To this morning session is an opening hearing. Andill allow the members witnesses to discuss classified investigation. To our guests in the audience, welcome. Proper this time i would like our witness to stand and raise your right hand, please. I do solemnly swear to give this committee the truth from of the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Thank you again. As you know, we have a responsibility to the public. It is my hope that your testimony today will assist both our and the American Publics understanding of fact involving the russian interference in our last election campaign. Youre the knowledge of activities foster that were key players regarding russian activities in the elections. The judgments rendered by the Intelligence Committee regarding community regarding those matters. The actions that were taken by the Obama Administration to counter it. This committee was focused on aggression. It is disheartening to wonder why more action was not taken sooner. I hope you will have insight into this important matter. Every day the American Public is bombarded with news about the russian interference. Many reports are false and misleading. Founduth can only be through a full and fair investigation into the facts. We have a duty to the American Public to follow the facts wherever they lead. Your testimony today will greatly help us meet the solemn obligation. Thank you, chairman. Good morning director brennan. Thank you for coming before our committee and your lifetime of service for the country. We will today to the terrible news from manchester that a suicide bomber killed scores of people coming putting children at a concert. It is difficult to describe the depravity of that act. We know that your colleagues in the Intelligence Committee are doing everything they can to share information with the british and are working day and night to prevent such attacks from plaguing our own country. Two months ago, our Committee Held its first open hearing with then fbi director james comey. Because mr. Comey was responsible for investigating u. S. Persons were involved in the russian hacking in our election, many questions went to the issue of collusion. It was after that hearing that ector call me revealed that this investigation was ongoing. Director comey and rogers also repudiated the president s contention that he was the subject of it wiretapping. Wiretapping. Those plans involve an unprecedented attack on our democratic institutions. More than two that, a wish to undermine the candidacy of Hillary Clinton and advanced the prospects that donald trump would become president of united dates. The audacity of the russian intervention to most americans i surprised. Today we will look to director theiro figure out intent on organizing the data by publishing it during critical times during the campaign. What were they hoping to accomplish and what why were they running the risk of getting caught . Did the russians believe that the american response would be so muted that they could get away with it and pay little price . Came from thesion top levels of the kremlin, was Vladimir Putin encouraged by donald trump pressure yes wethe cias mission want to explore what the agency may have learned about the u. S. Involvement and share in open session. What mechanism was established, if any, for the sharing of information between elements of the Intelligence Committee and the fbi. Our agencies have concluded that notrussian attack on is one off. The russians already employs many of the same tactics in europe. We will want to know the directors views and what we can do to stop them. Over the course of the last two weeks, several matters have been have a direct bearing on our investigation and the relationship between the president and the Intelligence Community. The president that shared classified information that was provided by one of our intelligence partners. President ged that the most recently, it is alleged that he weighed in with rogers and codes and urged them to the accusation of collusion. Significantly, it was admitted by the president himself that the russia probe was the primary motivation between his firing of mr. Comey. As i imagine, you must have maintained many relationships with the with the incredible workforce. We will be interested to learn whether members of the Intelligence Committee have shared information with you that corroborates any of these you ations and how uss ability at the fbi to carry out this investigation free of interference. Last, you want to say word about the appointment of mr. Mueller. Many of us have no director mueller for many years and have the most respect for him. Appointment, as important as it was to ensure Public Confidence in the kodak conduct of the doj. Our investigation and mr. Have two heart objects. His will determine if any u. S. Laws were broken and who should be brought to justice if there were. Hours will be to determine the full scope of russian interference. To make many of our findings public. I think the chairman and i yield back. Thanks the chairman and i yield back. Way,presentative khanna members of the committee, and conway,te the comedy members of the committee, i appreciate the ability to be her today. As a cia officer from 1980 to 2005. I am currently serving as a Senior Advisor at kissinger associates. I would like to express my deepest condolences to the british people and the families of those injured in yesterdays heinous attack against innocents in manchester. That lawident enforcement officers in the united kingdom, united dates, and other countries are working to find those responsible and prevent further attacks. I wish them godspeed. A fish artie heard from already heard from officials. Of y from director rather than repeating details contained in their testimonies, i will use this opportunity to make three main points before i take questions. Proud of the work done by the men and women of the cia, who along with their colleagues, tracked and exposed russia active measures against our president ial election. When itecame became clear to me that they had wideranging efforts to interfere, we pulled together experts from the cia, nsa, and fbi to focus on the issue. The purpose was to ensure the experts and key agencies had access to information and intelligence relative to russia russian activity. The experts provided regular updates to the summer and fall, which we used to inform senior u. S. Officials, including president obama. The work was leveraged for the under thece Community Director of national intelligence. It should be clear to everyone blatantly interfered in our 2016 president ial election process. They undertook these activities despite our strong protest and explicit warning that the not do so they not do so. The head of russias federal security bureau, russias internal security service, the bulk of the schedule fell on syria. With the white house come i took the opportunity to raise two additional issues with them. The continuedt harassment of u. S. Diplomats in moscow was your responsible, reckless, intolerable, and needed to stop. I next raised the reports of russian attempts to interfere in our upcoming president ial election. I told him if russia had such a campaign underway, it was certain to backfire. I said that all americans, regardless of political affiliation, cherish their ability to elect their own leaders without outside interference or disruption. American voters would be outraged by any russian attempt to interfere in the election. I warned that if russia pursued this course, it would destroy of near prospects relationships and undermine matters of mutual interest. As i expected, he denied that russia was doing anything to influence our president ial election, claiming that moscow is a traditional target for such activities. He said that russia was prepared to work with whatever candidate won the election. He again denied the charge but said he would inform president putin. Socalled process. In consultation with the white house come i personally briefed the full details of our understanding of russia attempts to interfere to congressional leadership. I provided the same briefing to each of the members. In the highly sensitive nature of the intelligence case involving an ongoing russian effort to interfere in our president ial election, the full details of what we knew at the time were shared only with those members of congress. Each of whom was accompanied by one senior staff member. The subjects of those briefings with consistent of the main judgments of the janeway classified assessments. January classified assessments. Let me conclude by saying that it was a very special privilege to serve as a cia officer. It was the highest honor of my professional career and always will be to have served another four years as director of the cia. They recognize that this on the sacrifices they and their families make every day on behalf of theres their fellow citizens. We owe a debt of gratitude for what they have done and continue to do to protect this country. I will be pleased to take your questions. Service you for your and for agreeing to come this morning. I am joined on this test for spite to able prosecutors. Thank you mr. Chairman. Mr. Director, if you could just take a quick minute before i start with my line of questioning with regards to what happened in manchester to do whatever you can from your best Expert Opinion to try to reassure the American People that what we do in this country and what we are trying to do what helped thwart and stop any similar activity here in the future. If you could help try to put american minds at ease briefly, i would appreciate any words you might have. Mr. Brennan i would say that isis and al qaeda and terrorist affiliates try to continued these outrageous attacks in europe as well as the United States. I can say with great confidence that this country has the absolute best counterterrorism community. The experts from intelligence in human excellent security do an excellent job. I have seen a tremendous growth and capability, as all as enhanced National Architecture since 9 11 in terms of sharing counterterrorism information quickly. When it is collected overseas or wherever, it gets to those individuals who have to take action on it. I can assure the American People that i know today that my former colleagues are working harder than they ever have before to prevent attacks. We heard the Ranking Member speak in his opening as well as the rest. In your opening statement, the Russian Investigation, what the russians were trying to do with regards to our election. The russians interfering with that hasion, we know unfortunately become the new norm. Our charge on this committee is not so much necessarily to seek out and without criminal behavior, especially in light of the special Counsel Robert Mueller who will be looking into those types of thing. For us on the Intelligence Committee, weather here in the senate, to try to improve the Intelligence Communitys ability to do our jobs and make a report and recommendations to the new administration on how we better defend ourselves against what russia and others might be trying to do with regard to affecting our republic and democracy. In doing so, if we find any criminal behavior, i think that the minority would agree that type of information would be referred to the justice department, which is the proper jurisdiction. The main question at hand, in your experience with the russians trying to involve themselves in our election, did you ever find any evidence that the Ranking Member spoke of collusion while you are the director . Did you find direct evidence of collusion between the Trump Campaign and putin and moscow while you were there . I really dont do evidence. I do evidence. Intelligent intelligence professional, we provide all relevant information to the an, if there is a net investigation underway. I was convinced that the russians were trying to interfere in the election. They were very aggressive. It was a multifaceted effort. Sure that weake exposed as much of that ass will. As possible. Having beenence involved in many counterintelligence cases in the past, i know what the russians try to do. They try to get individuals, including u. S. Persons to act on their behalf wittingly or unwittingly. I was worried by a number of contacts that the russians had with u. S. Persons. Onthe time i left office january 20, i had unresolved questions in my mind as to whether or not the russians had been successful in getting u. S. Persons involved in the campaign or not. To work on their behalf either in a breeding or unwitting fashion witting or any ing fashion. Unwitt of time, butout hopefully i can circle back. Can you describe their capabilities beyond propaganda and actually infiltrating whether you had intelligence and full trait the campaign with capabilities beyond propaganda and beyond reaching out or trying to influence the news or campaign . How long are we known about these capabilities . Mr. Brennan there is a lot of intelligence built up on russias and low mo. Able to useen politicians, Political Parties, elements within the media to try to make sure that their objectives are realized. Iswing what the russian mo and has been, i was concerned that they were practicing the same kind of activities here in the united date. States. We set up a group in late july that included the fbi and nsa. Towas well beyond my mandate follow up on any of those leads. I made sure that anything that was involving u. S. Persons, including individuals involved in the cap campaign was shared with the bureau. Campaign was shared with the bureau. The respect to number of allegations made recently that the president or his aides may helpsought to enlist the of director comey himself to drop the investigation. Sharedembers of any concerns that the president was attempting to enlist the help within the Intelligence Community to drop the Flynn Investigation . Mr. Brennan no sir. Areou aware of any to push back on a narrative . Mr. Brennan i am unaware of it. I want to ask you about the allegations concerning the president s meetings in the white house. You might have if the allegations are accurate about sharing information that we may have obtained from an intelligence partner. What impact do you think that might have on that partner but all other intelligence partners. Insightsuld share your on one other thing, that is the russians interaction to that meeting was to fall. D. Adimir putin two fol the russians had to understand that the publication of those photos would be harmful to the president or the would have invited American Press to the meeting. What do you think motivated pruden putin . Is this further efforts to weaken the president . How do you explain those events . Mr. Brennan a lot of questions. I shared classified information with the russians as director of the cia. Cia sure is classified information with russia on terrorism matters. That in itself was not unprecedented. I do not know what was shared or said in the oval office. If the reports and press are true that mr. Trump decided to spontaneously share some intelligence with the russians, i think he would have violated two protocols. Intelligence is not shared with visiting Foreign Ministers or ambassadors. It needs to be handled the right way to make sure that it is not exposed. Not do that, if the press charges are accurate. Before sharing intelligence, it needs to go back to the originating agency to make sure that the language in it will not reveal source of methods and compromise the future collecting capability. It appears from the press reports that he did not go through the proper channels, nor that the agency give proper clearance for it. Agency givehe proper clearance for it. These continue to be very damaging leaks. I find them appalling and they need to be tracked down. That is where the damage came from. The russians are watching very carefully what is going on in washington right now. They will try to exploit it for their own purposes to see if partisanfurther seed animosity. Even though the election is over, i think mr. Pruden and i thinkintelligence they are using this to their benefit. Had these concerns raised about their potential. Ffort did you take steps to set up a structure to analyze the russian , so that members of the cia, fbi and other agencies will look at these allegations in a cohesive fashion . Mr. Brennan yes. I also recognize this was an exceptionally sensitive issue. Trying to stop and uncover what the russian committees were in the midst of a hotly debated president ial campaign. That included information that may have involved u. S. Persons contact with russia. Pieces is to Come Department that effort compartment that effort. I made sure they were able to send over their experts so that they could share information among them. Sure that theye were not going to be any stovepipes. Sharing i still information. Thank you mr. Chairman. We were aack to where couple minutes ago. He testified that you had a conversation with your russian counterpart. You testified that he briefed at least eight members of congress throughout your investigation. When you learned of russia efforts, we will get to that in a minute. My understanding is that russia has historically attempted to interfere with our elect world process electoral process. They have a history of doing it. Learned of russias efforts, did you have evidence of connection between the donald Trump Campaign and russia state actors . I do not do evidence. As we came upon that, we shared it with the bureau. I appreciate that you do not do evidence. Unfortunately, that is what i do. Evidence. Word the good news for me, a lot of my colleagues on the other side worde aisle use the evidence as well. There is more than circumstantial evidence between collusion between russian interference and the donald Trump Campaign. If it is more than circumstantial, by necessity, it has to be direct. Democrat colleagues on the other side of this Committee Also used the word evidence, that he has seen evidence of collusion between the Trump Campaign and russians. Three different members of congress from the state state and state using the same word, which is evidence. Tradecraft is your vernacular. Theand i both know what word evidence means. We are not getting into whether you corroborated, examined, crossexamined. We are not getting and how you tested and probed. It is a simple question. Between the exist Trump Campaign and russian state actors . Mr. Brennan i encountered information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between russian officials and u. S. Persons involved in the Trump Campaign that i was concerned about because of known russia efforts to suborn such individuals. Know whether or not such collusion existed. I do not know. I know there was a sufficient basis of information and intelligence that required further investigation by the bureau to determine whether u. S. Persons were actively conspiring and colluding with russian officials. Do know the basis of that information . What was the nature of information . Mr. Brennan the committee has been provided information that relates to that issue in terms of information that the agencies shared with the bureau. That is something that is appropriately classified. You learned that when . When did you learn about the ts . Text contac are these official members of the Trump Campaign . Mr. Brennan i will not try to end of identify individuals. This is information that is based on classified sources and intelligence. For the official members of the campaign . Mr. Brennan i will defer to Current Agency officials to be able to further provide to you the information related to that. Understanding is that this committee has access to the documents. Last question. We can both use the word evidence. Mr. Brennan i made sure that the components within the cia responsible for counterintelligence, cyber, and tosia were actively working understand as much as possible about the reliability, accuracy of the information they already thatcted and information needed further corroboration. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you dr. Brennan for being here. I want to use my five minutes to paint a more specific picture be behind the mechanisms used by the russians to suborn our democracy. I want to start with a quote you are familiar with from the kremlin playbook in which they say russia seeks to crowded democracy from within by deepening political divide. They stir the pot and know that when they trigger chaos, even if it ends up negatively affecting them, they are serving the process of weakening us. The kremlin playbook that i referred to says that russia looks to corrode democracy by ,nvesting in rising politicians cultivating relationships with prominent businessman and helping to ensure that its business affiliates come government. Ned in how specifically has the kremlin gone about cultivating relationships with key americans in order to influence our policy . Mr. Brennan it is traditional intelligence tradecraft. To identify individuals that you think are very influential or. Ising stars he will try to develop a relationship with them. Russians will do that through cutouts or false flag. Try to develop that personal relationship and overtime will try to get individuals to do things on their behalf. Having been involved in a lot of counterintelligence and seeing the pattern over and over again, my radar goes up and i see that the russians actively involved in a particular intelligence and that u. S. Aign persons are being contacted by russian officials. Thet fair to assume phrase that you used was that you were worried by context contacts. Are contactsthese that could have been totally innocent and benign. Let me shift focus from americans to russians. I am not asking you a question about collusion. Can you tell me a little bit about what the role of russian oligarchs are . Americans fall for contacts with russian oligarchs and officials. Mr. Brennan key oligarchs who control billion Dollar Industries and parts of the russian economy. Fors reliance on them support. They are reliant on him for support. They obviously have a lot of International Connections and business connections that they businessto advance interests. We also see that russian intelligence agencies do not hesitate at all to use private companies and russian persons who are unaffiliated with the russian government to support their objectives. We talk about americans and russians now. Inamericans who are suborned such a way, do they necessarily need to know that they are doing russias bidding . Mr. Brennan no, many times they do not know. , they know that individuals may be russian officials, but they do not know there is an intelligence motive behind it. I am running low on time. I will close with this thought. There is hardly anyone who doubts that russia attacked us. The true thrust of the attack is what they have triggered in us. Anytime we refused to face facts and at tax and attack the messenger, every time we undercut our allies, think we are playing precisely into russias fondest hopes. Thate doing something Ronald Reagan or harry truman would have never allowed. Before i yield, i have one question to ask you. I realize we are in a open session. In the preparation of the report , who would election have made the decision to include or exclude any indications of russia intentions contrary to that conclusion . Mr. Brennan myself, comey, clapper relied on the experts who pulled this draft together. It was a process where the representatives of those entities wrestled with the language to make sure they had as much accuracy and precision and consensus as possible. Any adjustments made were made during the process. I met with some of my officers involved. I wanted to make sure they were comfortable with the language being used. It would have been that internal in ans that then resulted assessment. Without getting to the final conclusion, if there was other evidence that noted contrary, should that have been listed or not . You are dealing with a lot of information when you put together an intelligence assessment. It comes down to a distillation process. There are two products that were produced. Try all ofs to the relevant information that needed to be in there in order to undergird the adjustments contain. It was taken into account. Some decisions had to be made about it. I am unaware that anything was intentionally excluded because of intelligence that was, for some reason, one of the agencies do not want in their for a reason that was not a legitimate intelligence reason. Last time we were talking about the inception of your investigation 2016. I want the next question to lastde up until your day at the cia. Of you see evidence collusion, coordination, conspiracy between donald trump and russian state actors. I saw information intelligence worthy of investigation by the bureau to determine whether or not this cooperation of collusion was taking place. That does not help us a lot. Mr. Brennan what was the nature of it . Mr. Brennan it is classified. Im happy to talk about it in a classified session. I responded to your query. I will not respond to certain elements of it your question because it is not appropriate here. I was aware of intelligence and information about contacts between russian officials and u. S. Persons that raised concerns among mind about whether or not those individuals were cooperating with the russians. That served as a basis for the fbi investigation to determine whether such collusion or cooperation occurred. Words. E are a bunch of you used the word contact. A previous answer, you did a really good job of establishing the contact could be benign or not benign. Was it contact that you saw . Contact . More than what is the nature of what you saw . Mr. Brennan i saw interaction that raised questions in my mind true natureas the of it. I do not know. I do not have sufficient information to make a determination of whether or not such cooperation or complicity, tooke or collusion place. I know there was a basis to have individuals pull flows threat those threats. Judgment, it is up to Law Enforcement to test, probe, corroborate, contradict, otherwise investigate the full nature of that information you passed on. Jobbrennan it is not cias to make a determination of whether a u. S. Person is cooperating or colluding and type of criminal or a legal matter. It is our responsibility to give the girl everything they need in order to follow that path. We will pick it up next time. Welcome, director brennan. Mylding on the questions colleagues talked about, i would like to ask more specifics about russia attacking us and how their attacks specifically cause doubt our own credibility as americans. I would like to talk about truth and what it means to be truthful to your country him if you are in a position of power. Was prudent than in russian first in russia and then with us working to undermine truth . And how exactly has he done that . Brennan mr. Prudent putin is determined to do what he can to influence activities within democracies to undermine the western democratic order. They do that on a regular basis. I see that as western democracy is a threat to them. That is why this cyber domain right now is a growing playground for russian activities. They will use that and exploit it however they can. They have been involved in elections for years. This cyber environment now provides new opportunities to collect and release, to influence, and they are increasingly at depth at it. It. Dept at has there been any blowback or consequences to russia for their interference in our election . What would you do to try to prevent that from happening in future elections . Mr. Brennan i think exposure is very important to make sure that we are able to confront the russians and make sure that partners and allies around the globe are aware of this kind of russian capability. It is also important to have the but alsoincur costs actions that this government and other governments should take against the russians when they are to caught in those type of activities. It is something we need to be able to push back hard against. Have you seen the Top Administration do anything to push back Trump Administration do anything to push back . Have you seen any indication that we are trying to punish or stop the russians from doing that again . Mr. Brennan i am not in the position to evaluate. We were doing things behind the scenes to counter russian activities. Trying to clamp down on their intelligence activities. Administrationnt is doing the same thing. I do not know. Can you talk more about russias Information Campaign and what tools they use to do that . Mr. Brennan they use all sorts of tools. Have been able to control various media outlets. They use tv, which has a fairly significant audience. They use individuals who are writers or publishers, editorialists. Some of this is very obvious to those involved because they are ofolved in the payroll russian intelligence. I wanted to go back to what i was trying to say before, which is about truth. I cannot emphasize enough how much damaging this campaign is. There are those in this country who are practicing similar tactics from attacking truth, calling disagreeable facts sake news and attacking the messenger rather than confronting the message that the russians are trying to get us to believe. Diver, disassemble, deny. These are tactics that were seeing and embracing in america. Truth is being replaced with trust. Newse trust this person or source, even if it is not objectively true. Believea big problem, i , that is leading to the divide that we see in this country. Our National Security has never been as partisan as it is now. Thatnk that the truth is the interfered in our election and the American People want to get to the bottom of it. As electeds, we officials and on this committee should be doing all that we can to make sure that we find out how they did it, we figure out who helped them do it, and we get to the bottom of making sure it does not happen again. My last question to you is you believe that one of the things he talked about was exploit coming you said that even though the election is over, russians are still explaining us. What did you mean by that . Mr. Brennan this has been a pattern of Russian Intelligence Services to take advantage of the openness of western societies, free press press, and other things. To find opportunities and vulnerabilities that they can their interests. They will continue to do this. I think they are taking lessons from this past experience. I do not think this will make them recoil and not engage in these types of things. It will help them further refine their tactics so they can be as successful as possible in the future. Director brennan, thank you for being here today. Thank you for your service. I have a number of questions not in open setting, you will not be able to answer. I looking forward to a closed setting. The russian active measures in the campaign were. Can he be any more specific in your answer with her about what they were doing and what you saw . They are all chronicled in terms of it is very clear that they were responsible for hacking into the networks of the dnc and were ,esponsible through cutouts wikileaks and others. Were taking advantage of information that they had collected, that they determined if it was publicly released with. Dvance their objective in addition, the amplified a lot of stories that tried to denigrate secretary clinton. It was a mixture of propaganda, cyber collection, and it was a release of information that was seen as damaging to one of the candidates that they were trying to harm. Believeaid you do not able be deterred from engaging in activity like this in the future. Do you think they would attempt to influence the 2018 midterm elections . I have come unfortunately, grudging respect for russian intelligence capabilities. Their aggressiveness and pervasiveness and determination to do what they can to undermine this countrys democracy and democratic institutions, as well as those in europe and other areas. I believe that they will try to exploit elections, but they will not wait until the point of elections. They are aggressively collecting and trying to evaluate individuals who may be intellectual, were currently in government or not. The russian intelligence threat is a serious one. Tenure at the cia, did you have the resources necessary to conduct what you needed to as it pertained to the russians . Mr. Brennan i had resources and authorities that allowed us to do things, but i think this is something that may be in a classified setting we could talk more about. We need to go to a classified setting, i understand. Are there additional suggestions that he would give to this Intelligence Committee of what we should be doing proactively to enable not just the cia but fbi and nsa to fort future futureg thwart meddling . Mr. Brennan sure. Based on what happened here, do you think there are ways that we can assist our allies in thwarting what the russians are doing question mark is it simply sharing information or are there additional measures that could be taken . One of us to beennan we also need able to work on joint operations together so we can expose ofsian errors in a friday places. I know my former colleagues are working closely with Sister Services to do that. Efforts to the russian efforts to undermine. We need to do more of that. While we are focusing on russia, do you have any evidence their work collusion with arabians, north koreans, to metal against us . Mr. Brennan i do not believe they were partnered with other countries in this most recent effort to undermine last years election. Do believe other countries were involved in the time to undermine us . Mr. Brennan i would have to think about that and i would talk to you about that in closed session. Thank you. Time is expired. Thank you mr. Chairman, ians thank you director for your service to our country. We talked about Vladimir Putins desire to weaken our democracy from inside out. I want to talk about how it has been undermined. Our 240 years, america has spent a lot of blood and treasure to make the world safe for democracy. We worked to ensure this at home and abroad. The diplomatic intelligent, the military professionals have been at the forefront of that effort and are the reason we succeeded. They work tirelessly to promote Democratic Values because we value democracy our self and also because it helps to prevent war. They advanced the cause of freedom in advance economic opportunity. Director brendan, in your mind Vladimir Putin want us to be successful and does he want to see democracy thrive around the world . Mr. Brennan no and no. How does our mission gets supported . Mr. Brennan Forward Deployed radar. We need to make sure that we understand what is going on but also what is underway in the future. We need to make sure that we are able to access assess capabilities of actions if they are willing to do us harm as well as our Homeland Security specialist. The foreign Intelligence Community has a task to cover it 24seven. Do frequently in places where they are in harms way but also in other areas where the threat to u. S. National security as much last obvious, much more moreious, and often much threatening. So therefore our nations intelligence professionals really have a lot on their shoulders as far as keeping this country safe and secure. Do you believe Vladimir Putin would like to see us hamstring . Ur diplomatic capabilities mr. Brennan we have been able to undercut and undermine them. They are capable but i would not suggest for one moment that the u. S. Intelligence community has not been very successful in. Reventing in thwarting russian general mattis said himself in 2013, if you do not fully fund the state department then i need to buy more ammunition. See proposed cuts of one third to the state department, one third to the entire budget, and the announcement that we, the United States of america, no longer champion human rights around the world will stop we are concerned with efforts to undercut our intelligence professionals, comparing them at two tot seats nazis. Diplomatic and intelligent professionals have fought for us. I do not think and neither do the rest of us we cannot let this happen. I yield back mr. Chairman. Skip someone. Vely back for five minutes. Mr. Director, what to say that ive been up to the agency to review the documents you referred to before and i look forward to talking about the information in our closed session. I want to mention something we talked with admiral rogers and mr. Comey for two open sessions ago from the house Intelligence Committee. It is one that sort of got a lot hoopla on tv when we talked about the importance of what leaks due to our intelligence. Intelligenceel community officials, i think some news reports had almost 20 people leaking classified information to the press. If you agree with admiral rogers said that kind of leaking with to ability to have reauthorize things like 702 so we can gather intelligence on bad guys for political purposes, if you believe that kind of activity actually hurts our National Security. I think the unauthorized disclosure of unauthorized information compromises our intelligence and needs to stop. Thank you. With regards to more as of the questions, with regards to hacking, when did you learn of depression hacking in the last election cycle . In the summer. And did you at that time thatied those campaigns somebody at the agency or were you aware that both campaigns word notified at that time that there was an effort by the russians to act to try to influence the Political Campaign of last year. Mr. Brennan i was aware that both campaigns were being notified about it, yes. You said to mr. Gowdy that you believe there were information of contact between people in the trump universe and moscow. Whether or not that was collusion remains to be seen. You said you did not know phils actual. I think your words were i dont know. Can you tell us from the information you look that, it looks like the intelligence shows that moscow was actually rooting for donald trump or were they rooting against Hillary Clinton . Yet, why . Mr. Brennan i think my assessment is it was both. At differentthey times in the campaign they felt that the fortunes of one candidate or the other was going up or down and i think that they most of the time believed that secretary clinton was going to win the election, and said their efforts to denigrate her were not just to try to diminish her chances of winning but also to hurt her and support her eventual presidency and also it is my assessment that they clearly had a more favorable view towards mr. Trump and actions they were taking were trying to increase his prospects although i think they probably felt there were not all that great. Why . Why did they won him and not her . Mr. Brennan a friday of reasons. One is there has been a animus between mr. Putin and secretary clinton. It has not been a Good Relationship between the two clintons over the years with putin. Secretary clinton and some of her actions while she was secretary of the state led to t some of the domestic disturbances inside a fresh and i think she was going to be more rigid not particular issues. Such as human rights. What would donald trump do for them, then question mark or was it just that they did not like hillary . Mr. Brennan they felt that mr. Trump, being a bit of an outsider, that they had in the past had some Good Relationships with is this man who happened to elevate into positions of authority said they felt from a negotiation statement that he might be craig so, good relations if that is true, and one of those is so good relations, and if this is true a might be better for closed session, but in your view was there more damaging evidence of secretary clinton that was not revealed and if it was not revealed what does it say about their russian ability . O be rooting for her to win mr. Brennan we can talk about it and closed session, but i think the anticipated that secretary clinton was going to win the election. I believe they tried to damage and bloody her before election, but also i would have anticipated that had she been elected, that their efforts to denigrate her aunt heard her would have continued during her presidency. So they did collect more information about her that they did not release, i think there were probably waiting for another day. Thank you. Thank you director brendan for your service. I would like to spend some time talking about the outsized role that the russian oligarchy plays in terms of supporting the russian government. Theas been said that when russians want to all debate a u. S. Person they will do it over a long. Of time. Over a long time. Has that been your experience . Mr. Brennan i think that has to do with the willingness to work with the russians. Were you aware they were trying to cultivate thenreal estate developer donald trump for over a years . Encouraged oligarchs to invest in the United States . Mr. Brennan by whom . Putin . Ladimir mr. Brennan there are tremendous Investment Opportunities in the united eights and i think mr. Putin russianke to see more involvement in investments in the United States. Yes. And with that russian investment, is there an expectation they are going to provide information to president putin about what is going on in the United States . Brennan i would fully anticipate that some of the russian oligarchs and their business interests are tapped on a regular basis by Vladimir Putin for information, yes. Any of those investments from thenreal estate developer donald trump . You will aware that there were 106 visas granted to russians for investing in the United States in the amounts of money of 500,000 dollars or more. They are called ebfive visas. I am unaware of this. It was a general role you did not investigate those who were granted ebfive visas . And may have come across our screen but i am not aware of a lot of the information the cia collected. And 2014 comes the United States come the european union, in canada imposed sanctions on russian response to their invasion of ukraine and crimea. These sanctions greatly restricted the flow of private money to the russian government and business leaders. How much pain do you think those sanctions have caused russia . I think it has been increasingly painful and i think that one of mr. Putins priorities has been, especially over the last year, to try to get those sanctions reduced and his strategy is getting the European Countries to separate from the u. S. Led sanction effort and that is why i think as part of this effort they were trying to drive a wedge between europe and washington and some of the unfavorable character in characterizations that secretary clinton i think that is part of a broader russian strategy. I think mr. Putin wants sanctions removed sooner rather than later. Ig would say that is one of his top of that very cap policy objectives in dealing with the United States . Mr. Brennan it is a key one but it is more dealing with us directly by trying to wean the european nations off of the sanctions wagon. So, the ceo of rozen f and thenrex tillerson the ceo of exxon mobil were doing a deal in russia that was about 1 billion i leave. The sanctions that were imposed in 2014 shut that down. Is that correct . Mr. Brennan i believe so. Im not sure. So, again, it would make the case that the impacts on russia are grave in terms of the sanctions. Me ask you another question. There have been reports in newspapers that british and had providedgence information about meeting in european cities between russian officials associated with president putin and associates of the Trump Campaign. Is that how you first find out about those meetings . Mr. Brennan im not going to talk about anything they might of shared with us. Thank you. I yield back. Forhank you mr. Brennan being here. Because of your long history with the agency, i think you are the perfect expert to give us some Historical Perspective on thisong russia has been at active measure campaign. How long would you say that russia and the soviet union sought to undermine the process of our democratic framework here in the west . Mr. Brennan for many, many decades. Rides decades. And it russia led for decades. Target Political Parties or organizations in the United States before 2016, or was it more of a general campaign . Mr. Brennan i would defer to thebureau which would have Investigative Lead as to what would be happening here on u. S. Soil. But i know the russians tried to cultivate relationships with individuals. I would refer to the bureau. Ranks thank you. Can you provide any examples of past russian or soviet active easures as they are called . Mr. Brennan it runs the gamut from targeted assassinations of dissidents, of members of the inside of russia as well as outside of russia. It runs to getting people on their payroll in foreign governments to carry out there actions. Ukraine, not in just the military takeover of crimea but there basic intervention in the Eastern Ukraine with their intelligence and paramilitary services. To the active propagation of propaganda and disinformation as they tried to besmirch and punish individuals. As well as the use of blackmail. That they would be able to then leverage for their own purposes. So it really does run the gamut from the most heinous and violent to that which is more subtle in the cities. The scope is alarming. How does the kremlins attempt to influence this previous election compared to soviet active measures during the cold war . What has changed . Mr. Brennan i think when we talk about u. S. President ial elections and we know the russians were trying to influence outcomes as well as perceptions back to the 1960s i believe. But again, the cyber environment now really provide so much more opportunity for a variety of troublemaking. And, the russians take advantage of it. So the ability to go in and collect and use different types of techniques. Spearfishing, whatever also they can gain access to emails, computer systems, networks, it is something that the russians are quite adept at and what weve seen recently is a collaboration between Russian Intelligence Services and organized criminals. I think it was in the Washington Department of justice they indicted to individuals, to members of the fcc, and to wellknown organized criminal hackers because of the religion of the yahoo servers and that collaboration between russian intelligence and organized crime is more of the concern so they can promote their respective interests and this is something i think the russians are looking for new opportunities to partner with whomever they can in order to do what they want to do. Is a young analyst, you probably had a lot of dealings with the head of the kgb in the early 1980s. He was very focused on this active measure campaign. Mr. Brennan as a young analyst, i did not have direct involvement but i studied over the years and i have seen it manifest and many difference counterintelligence cases and how they have been able to get people, including inside of the cia, to become treasonous. And individuals who go along a treasonous path often do not even realize they are along that treasonous path until it is too late. That is why my waiter goes up early when i see certain things that i know the russians are trying to do and i do not know whether or not the targets of ofir efforts are as mindful the russian intentions as they need to be. Thank you for your service. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you director, for your service. You said you became aware of u. S. Persons interactions with the russians and you have mentioned your radar going up. As part of that who the russians im work meeting sorry . As part of your consignment not that they were interacting but who they were . Mr. Brennan yes, it was on both sides. The names of the contacts and the communiques. Notches the fact that they met . Mr. Brennan right. I want to make sure i have your words correctly, you knew that meant there was a basis of these threats. What thataborate on means generally . Mr. Brennan well, frequently, and even totally divorced from the election issue, if there are , it known russian officers, who seem to be cultivating contacts with u. S. Persons and there are reasons for cia or others to be concerned about what is happening there, we would make sure the bureau is aware. We would not know what those follow investigation steps were because of appropriate rights and reviews of u. S. Persons but the primaryas responsibility on u. S. Soil to follow its counterintelligence leads wherever they make up. Cia has very unique counterintelligence authority as well and we have a unique collection of authorities that make us the closest partner with the bureau and this matter because we have the intelligence liaison relationship with our Foreign Services, clandestine im collection responsibilities. We have all kinds of abilities. The best analysts bar none. That combination is able to give the bureau what they need and that is why any type of suspicion we have the some ring just theoot, and not russian, other Foreign Services as well. We make sure the bureau is fully theysed and we make sure are aware. The sanctionsned and how they are impacting the russians. You talked about how the russians are attempting to avoid these sanctions and getting aid from others. They often use Money Laundering, correct . Mr. Brennan yes, they do. Howan you indicate extensively . Mr. Brennan i would defer to the experts and the cia from the treasury and others. Money laundering is a longpracticed effort on the as wellfresh and others as Russian Intelligence Services in order to cover their tracks and carry out there illegal, activities. Moral avoiding taxes . Numbernnan avoiding any of problems for them and they have become very adept over the years that Money Laundering. Are you familiar with which reticular country or countries are involved with Money Laundering . Mr. Brennan i am aware of some but i would defer to the agency to identify them. Institutionsanking mr. Brennan they use Banking Institutions in a number of countries. A lot of times what they are doing is unbeknownst to the governments. So, there are a number of Financial Centers around the world that the russians have become quite i agree the home country may not be aware and probably is not aware of all that is taking place but you would certainly be aware and concerned if there were u. S. Persons involved with those institutions, correct . Vista brennan anything we might uncover we would make sure the bureau and treasury and others were aware. They are the ones that need to follow up on whether or not there is criminal activity. And were you concerned with cyprus and Financial Institutions there . Mr. Brennan i think it is a wellknown fact there is a large financial interest of russia and cyprus so any type of involvement of u. S. Persons or companies, it would be the responsibility of the fbi and. Ther agencies if a u. S. President asked any intel professional not to proceed in an investigation, would you consider that an obstruction . Mr. Brennan i do not have the legal basis to determine what constitutes objection of justice . How would you react if the president asked you not to present investigation . Is to brennan i have never been asked that and certainly not what i follow it if were asked. To the exchange with mr. Gowdy. You stated and by the way, want to thank you as others have for the specificity you provide us. These are difficult issues and concepts. The fbi, the cia, each of you do different jobs and your expertise is helpful to us to unwind elements of this. What we are looking at and what it means. Saw, whented that you asked about whether or not you as seen evidence of collusion or cooperation, you said that you saw intelligence that indicated there had been contacts with individuals, with russians, that were of a nature that bore investigation. You said that those contacts might have been benign. Might not have been. But they rose to the level of forcating to be reviewed their nature and possible investigation. Did i characterize that correctly . Mr. Brennan yes. But i dont want to take this out of context. We see interactions all the time. It is when it is in a context that there is Something Else going on. We know at the time the russians were involved with possibly interfering in the election. So with that backdrop, seeing these types of contacts and interactions during the same consent. Ed my excellent. I appreciate that qualification. That of someone left this hearing today and said you had indicated that those contacts were indications of collusion or collaboration, they would be misrepresenting, correct . Brennan they wouldve misheard my response to the good question asked. I am trying to be responsible in terms of what i know, what i have assessed, and what i say . As o you would say that that you would say that was not inaccurate portrayal . Mr. Brennan yes. Ask if someone saw what you saw, and only what you saw in regards to that context, it they look to what he said that it have been benign and may have not been benign and then they characterized what they saw as having been evidence of collusion or collaboration, they would be misrepresenting the intelligence, would they not . Mr. Brennan i do not know what else they have seen which could corroborate. If they only saw what you saw , they would be misrepresenting the intelligence, correct . Mr. Brennan i presume they would be misrepresenting what it is that i saw. Again, i do not know i appreciate because i do believe there are members of thatand many that deserve counsel because your specificity gives us a review of what we are looking out and i believe there are those who have reviewed what you have seen and presented it to the republic to the public incorrectly. I would like to yield the remainder of my time to mr. Gowdy. Sorry, i was colluding with my friend from florida. I want to take up where well, what to do this. The last time we talked, you had referred information to the bureau, am i right . What you would seem, you bureau. To the mr. Brennan ok. I dont know of that was the last thing we talked about but i will grant you mr. Gowdy one of the last. It was not a trick question but one of the last thing she referred to the bureau you saw. Is that correct . Mr. Brennan yes. Mr. Gowdy did you also referred to mr. Clapper question mark mr. Brennan not everything. Why would that be . Because on counterintelligence matters dealing with u. S. Personnel information of a very sensitive nation nature the dni does not have that type of operational responsibility. What we tried to do was make sure there is as little exposure of that information as possible. I would keep general clapper informed about the nature of my engagements, but the materials that were shared with the bureau would not have been shared with the dni. When you refer that information to the bureau . Summertime. Ring the there were ongoing sharing of information. Thank you, chair. Thank you, director. Since you pass that information ctor, have, dire you reviewed the fbis development of that evidence or any evidence . Im unaware of what the bureau has then with that information and have no knowledge of any since january 20. Are you aware of what the bureau has briefed this community with respect to evidence of collusion . And hisched jim comey, comments, and i have run through his transcripts. Are you aware of what the fbi has briefed this to be in a classified scheme . No, im not. Made 10 of this year produced an unsettling image inside the oval office. President trump standing and laughing with russias ambassador laugher of. Its been further reported that President Trump shared highly sensitive code word information with russia, putting at risk u. S. Lives and jeopardizing sources and methods. Director, the russians risk worthy of receiving such information in the manner alleged . I believe its important for the u. S. Intelligence to provide to any of our foreign partners any information related to terrorist threats, to Foreign Countries or their citizens. And thats why i authorize the position of classified information numerous times to the russians that saved russian lives. As i mentioned, there is an appropriate manner and procedure for doing that. They need to be followed scrupulously so theres not going to be an undermining of those collection capabilities and systems. Director, you warn there would be consequences if they meddled in our elections. When you look at that picture and the manner in which allegedly classified information was conveyed to the russians, do you see consequences for their actions . Again, i dont know the totality of the actions that have been taken against the russians. The Obama Administration in january took actions against them. Depending on that how this investigation proceeds, the fbi and special counsel as well as the work of the committees, and i agree the appointment of special counsel should not stop these committees you are supposed to be looking at what we need to do to strengthen our system so we are better prepared. I believe the consequences need to be levied on the russians for it, but i would defer to policymakers in congress to decide that. With respect to the contact between russia and Trump Campaign persons you referenced earlier, and whether they were innocent or benign contacts, when you see a multiplicity of andacts between one country one campaign, when does it in your mind when you decide whether to defer to the f ei, when does it move from your coincidences to a pattern . Very generous as far as the instances of concern, but as i said, there was a backdrop thereof known russian efforts to interfere on election. There were a variety of activities taking place that wondered whether or not they were part of that campaign and strategy. We dont have totality of insight into all the things the russians were doing. I left it up to the professionals, the counterintelligence and russian experts to make sure whatever information that they deemed appropriate to share with the bureau because it could be relevant to their investigation, they did that. I wasnt the one to make decisions, share this with the bureau, share this. It was based on longheld actresses on the part of the cia to make sure we are not holding back from our bureau colleagues. There is what is referred to as consciousness of guilt evidence, that is when somebody lies about a material fact. Act of them lying can be used against that person because he would be in essence a way to cover up what happened great if you were telling the truth, we wouldnt have anything to cover up. With respect to some of the contacts you referred to between russia and Trump Campaign officials, are you aware of any u. S. Or since you had contact with russia, either making false statements about those contacts or failing to disclose those contacts . Mr. Brennan i think that is puruse andhat we can close session. Session. Closed have you ever seen in your history working as an intelligence official this number of contacts between a foreign adversary and a president ial campaign . I think our collection systems have increased over the years, so im not sure whether or not it is the result of better collection or because there were more contacts this time. I do not have a basis to make a determination about that. Thank you, yield back. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for being here today and your candor in this conversation. Have you ever been asked to give your opinion to the fbi about whether intelligence you gathered should lead to an investigation . Did they engage you in that way . You said theres fbi engaged in this, and the cia. I dont know if they have an opinion or ask your opinion on this. We would make a referral to the department of justice on many instances, when we saw classified information appear in the public in an unauthorized fashion. That referral is to determine whether or not there should be an investigation, and the fbi then takes a look at the circumstances and makes the decision. That would be the referral you make. Established that russian, soviet union, they have tried to meddle with our elections for years. You came in as director after the last election. Which leads me to something mr. Himes was talking about. He says, the rules of the russian playbook, they try to build relationships, especially with influential americans. Thats one of the things you are kind of looking out for, these relationships. So, im just trying to understand process here in little bit, what type of conversation do you hear that says maybe we need to take a little bit further look into this or refer it on. I cant help but think back to we previous election, when see on videotape president obama says, this is my last election. After my election i have more flexibility, and president medvedev says, i understand, i will transit this transmit this information to vladimir and i stand with you. You talk about the playbook. I stand with you, that sounds like a strong relationship and we are talking openly about elections. Im not trying to launch another investigation here, but im concerned about the process. So you werent sitting as director at that time, but thats a pretty disturbing image, i think, to a lot of americans, what kind of relationship. Would you question this interaction, or that with that type of conversation is taking place . Im trying to understand process of how it moves from cia to fbi to doj. It was a direct conversation between the heads of government and state between two countries. Im not going to respond to your im trying to get some understanding of what thats off a red flag. Sets off a red flag, and when do you referred to Law Enforcement. That hits all the things you were talking about in the playbook right elections, influential american, and building a relationship. Trying to get to the substance there. That interesting, you cant respond to a personal recession, this is what we are talking about. I yield back. Mr. Brennan i tried to avoid being involved in partisan political issues. I just will not recognize a question. Thank you. With that, i yield the remainder of my time. Congressman rooney and you were discussing generally the motive, and i think lets assume its given that the russians do not elect liketary clinton did not president obama, for that matter, and desired negative things are. But they also thought she was going to win. Your testimony that all of the information stolen was not publicly disseminated . Mr. Brennan no, i said if they collected Additional Information the effortsed, that to try to further hurt her if , thatcame president information, any type of derogatory information about her would have been husbanded for the postelection period. Do you know if negative information was husbanded and not disseminated . Mr. Brennan there would be inappropriate to talk about in open session like this. Is it inappropriate to answer yes or no, whether or not the information was husband or not disseminated . Mr. Brennan i request would be that we can talk about that enclosed session. I will honor your request and we will talk about it in a little bit. Over the course of the last several months, the intelligence agencies have been paraded by the president for the possibility of leaks. Are you aware of his tweets, other criticisms hes made about leaking to intelligence agencies . Mr. Brennan there have been a number of allegations. Are you aware of the story that came out yesterday that said, quote, three white house officials have been identified for leaking acid fight info. Classified info. Potus will fire multiple people upon return to d. C. Mr. Brennan im unaware. At if the story is true, th there may have been people who leaked classified information at the white house it seems like an obvious question. Are there people at the white house that would have classified information they could leak to journalists . White house officials, if they have the appropriate security clearances waste on their position, they would have access to classified information. Mr. Brennan o if the white house determines leaks are coming from inside their operation, how would they go about determining that . If there is a sense that there are unauthorized disclosures of classified information from within the white house, i think its imperative that the fbi be brought into the matter so there can be an appropriate investigation to determine whether or not the conduct was criminal or not, and there shouldnt be just an independent investigation that takes place. They can do some efforts to try to contain any hemorrhaging of the information, but it really is the responsibility of Law Enforcement and the bureau to investigate criminal leaks of classified information. I have some questions about the i. C. Investment itself and the declassified report. Theres been a lot of disinformation and confusion about the intelligence assessment. So, mr. Brenna, when did the i. C. Start warning about the russian threat, and how was the assessment produced . Do you believe the pope people working on it had the requisite skills and expertise to write such an important assessment . Mr. Brennan the Intelligence Community assessment that was produced in early january was initiated by president obama in early december to ensure that there was going to be a full accounting of russian activities. And, directed that there be classified, unclassified version of that. The effort to uncover the russian activities took place prior to that, and in both instances, i believe that the right people with the requisite involved inlls were the initial collection effort, and assessment effort of russian activities, up to and even in the aftermath of the election in there wasand then, additional individuals who were added to that group that could draft that assessment so it could be produced in early january. How and why did all three agencies come was such a high degree of confidence about their assessment . Mr. Brennan i think they rigorously interrogated the deep very careful, and discussions about what the data told them about their assessments, and so therefore there was a unanimous consensus among the three agencies about the judgments. There was one variation as far as the nsas confidence level in terms of the russian advocacy for mr. Trump, but without lone with that lone exception, it was a consensus assessment. The report also talked extensively about the role of wikileaks in working with russia on this covert action campaign. Can you talk more about how they fit . Mr. Brennan the assessment says the russians used a cutout for the wiki leaks exposure, and when you look at the wikileaks releases over time, you can see that sometimes they are timed to coincide with certain events and they are always intended to undermine u. S. National security. Russian protests that they are not working with wikileaks, and wikileaks protest not working with the russians, on both parts are disingenuous. Back to the leaking at the white house, potential leaking. Withsurveillance methods the president or the white house have authorization to engage in on its own staffers that would be legal, and where might they cross the line . Mr. Brennan im not a lawyer. You have to go to the department of justice and fbi in terms of what Statutory Authority say might have authorities they might have. Mr. Stewart, five minutes. Im going to go very quickly because i want to reserve as much time as i can for our task force and attorneys. I want to go through and make one point. Before i do, im just going to thethat i reviewed intelligence regarding the analysis of whether they preferred mr. Trump. I dont agree that it is such a high level of confidence. I just think there should have been allowances made for some of the ambiguity in that, and especially for those who didnt also share in the conclusion that it was a high degree of confidence. Having said that, i do think we can agree that russia wants a weekend u. S. President. President. U. S. Would you agree with that . Mr. Brennan yes. Said their primary goal seems to be to weaken ms. Clintons candidacy. With the same thing be true now . Would russia want a weakened u. S. President , mr. Trump . Mr. Brennan i think they want u. S. Able to weaken policies, especially on the international stage. I do think there is an interest in the part of the russians to improve relations with the United States. I think its important that relations between washington and moscow be improved. They would want that on their terms as much as able and i would be better accomplished by having a weakened u. S. Pre sident. Wouldnt you say thats true . Mr. Brennan one can argue the point that a stronger president is able to have an accommodation with russia out of strength as opposed to out of weakness. I would agree with you that there are some circumstances. In general, a weakend u. S. , a weakened western influence in the world and a weakened u. S. President is in their interest. These active measures to propaganda, false news reports, they dont and with the u. S. Election. Its appropriate that we would warn the American People that these active measures, propaganda, fake news stories, etc. , would be applicable today as well, and that they would be trying to weaken our u. S. Presid ent and trying to weaken for leaders as well. Would you agree with that . Mr. Brennan yes. With that, yield the remainder of my time. Director brennan, why is it important to protect the identity of u. S. Persons as part of our surveillance programs . Is arennan because there right of all americans to privacy, and that sometimes information is collected about u. S. Persons who may or may not be involved in any manner of criminal activity. And therefore, respecting the privacy of u. S. Citizens. The Intel Community goes to Great Lengths to cover the identities of u. S. Persons if they happen to be included in an intelligence collection. For all those reasons and others we are not talking about leaks. We are talking about masking within the Intelligence Community, right . We are not talking about reading it on the front page of the newspapers. We are talking about prohibitions that you place on yourself with respect to identifying u. S. Persons as part of our surveillance programs, right . Mr. Brennan correct. You decided some of the very Important Reasons that we do that, and i would assume that there is a process, a protocol under which the Intelligence Community goes through if they seek to unmask a u. S. Persons name . Mr. Brennan thats correct. Have you ever requested that a u. S. Persons name the unmasked . Be unmasked . Mr. Brennan yes. Have you approved or denied request of others that a u. S. Persons name be unmasked . Mr. Brennan i dont recall in my tenure at cia any decision on unmasking for someone else coming up to my level. That decision would have been made at a lower level within the agency. Are you aware of any requests within the community that were denied . I didnt have visibility to requests that were being made across the government, so i dont recall one that i was denied. Do you recall any u. S. Ambassadors asking the names be unmasked . I dont know. Maybe its bringing a vague bell. I cannot answer with any confidence. Do you remember when your last day on the job was with the cia . Mr. Brennan noon on january 20 when i gave up my responsibilities as director of cia. On january 19 or up until noon on january 20, did you make any unmasking requests . Mr. Brennan i do not believe i did. So you did not make any requests on the last day that you were employed . Mr. Brennan no, i was not in the agency on the last day i was employed. The last day i was employed i definitely did not make such a request. Thank you, director. Director brennan, thanks for being here. I want to freely confess to you there is an element to this Russian Investigation with which i have struggled, and it is this. How do i explain why this should matter and why people should care . I use to explain this to folks who have a lot of other things on their mind, things like their kids, keeping their job, managing their debt, caring for an elderly parent . Why should people care that the russians hacked into our computers and then selectively disclose that information with the express purpose of swaying the election . Why should they care the russians are doing this, in other western democracies, and will continue to do so . That is the precise question i actually put to thendirector comey and admiral rodgers when they were with us in march. I now pose it to you, sir. Not for my sake, but americas sake. As someone who devoted your entire life to public service, and your own words, please tell my constituents, my neighbors, why they should care. Not just here in washington, d. C. , but in Washington State and texas and connecticut and points in between, why should they care . Why do you care, sir . Mr. Brennan for the last 241 years, this nation and its citizens have cherished the freedom and liberty this country was founded upon. Many brave americans over the years have lost their lives to be able to protect that freedom and liberty. Theyve lost their lives also to protect the freedom and liberties of other countries and other people around the world. Our ability to choose our elected leaders as we see fit is, i believe, an inalienable right we must protect with all our resources and authority and power. So, therefore, i believe this is something thats critically important to every american. Its very important to me for my children and grandchildren to make sure that never again will a foreign country try to influence and interfere in the Foundation Stone of this country, which is leaning on democratic leaders. In other words, because you love your country. Mr. Brennan thats the cliff note version of it. I believe much is at stake here, including the following, whether america will have elections we can trust that our continuing measures of selfdetermination free from foreign interference, whether we will smartly arm ourselves against any future such digital invasion, whether we are Strong Enough to make good on the promise to be a nation of rule by law, whether we will hold those accountable who seek to abrade our cherished institutions, whether we will stand up for democracy, or enable this insidious autocracy, much is at stake. No one should be misled because this isnt just about russia. Its about us, and our medal. The famous american diplomat George Cannon said at the outset of the cold war, much depends on the health and vigor of our own society. Indeed it does. We are being tested. We are divided. Weve gone to our respective corers and claimed our own set of facts. Anger has become the currency of our discourse. Reason has been replaced do you know what . People also yearn for a reaffirmation of the Value Narrative of america, which is the very thing that makes us great. Thats what i hear when im home, whether im playing cards with my buddies or out to a movie with my wife are having coffee at church. And do you know why americans yearn for this . Its because its what makes it possible for us to be for something bigger than ourselves. Whathat is pecrecisely america is hoping, if not counting on us, on this dais, to do. To be for something bigger than ourselves, and put our country above party. I pray thats what we will do. Thank you, sir, for your decades of service and your presence here today. Mr. Crawford, five minutes. I will yield to the gentleman from south carolina. Think my friend from arkansas. Director brennan, do you know the commission mr. Brennan i dont. Fbi paid know if the for any portion of the steel dossier . Mr. Brennan i dont know. There are press reports related to that, but i dont know. Do you know whether any of the underlying allegations made for ever tested, probed, examined, cross examined, whether the sources were examined for liability, credit ability reliability, credibility . Mr. Brennan i know there were efforts made by the bureau to try to understand whether or not any of the information in that was valid, but i dont have any firsthand knowledge of it. Mr. Brennan do you know do you know if a still dossier was relied on as a part of court filings, applications peladings . Peladings . Pleadings . Mr. Brennan i have no awareness. Did the cia rely on it . Mr. Brennan no. Why not . Mr. Brennan it wasnt part of the corpus of intelligence information we had. He was not in any way used as a basis for the Intelligence Community assessment that was done. It was not. Waitedpe i have sufficiently long enough to ask you about leaks. We will just do it last. Do you agree there is a tacit agreement between the American People and their government that they will allow us certain powers and freedoms in exchange for safeguarding the privacy of the information collected . I think there is certainly an expectation that would be a protection of privacy as the government carries out its responsibilities. And you and i discussed some of those writers see can privacy concerns. You have been very clear this morning. I noted the times you said u. S. Persons. You could have inserted a name but you did not. You had the discipline to say u. S. Persons. And that discipline is practiced unless and until there is a request to unmask that persons name, correct . I would like to think that discipline is still exercised even if a request to unmask a name is net is made. We protect u. S. Persons even if fever like even if people like we trust with awesome powers, we still impose some restrictions on them and that the has to assume to be a justification. Woke up andst say i i need to know. There has to be justification. Yes. So how do we get from that namesmes from that to being on the front pages of certain u. S. Newspapers . That is an excellent question. What would be an equally excellent answer . That somebody violated their oath to protect classified information and violated that oath and shared that information in an unauthorized fashion with members of the media. Well, my friend from washington, and he is my friend, i was impressed not only with his eloquence, but the conviction with which he just spoke. But ive got other colleagues, not from washington, that tend to minimize the nature of leaks as if there is somehow a weighing and a balancing that needs to take place between how interesting we may find the underlying information, how interesting we may find the underlying names. I have seen attempts, unfortunately by members of this very body, to mitigate and explain away and minimize what it does to the surveillance programs to have leaks of classified information. So i will finish with this, i believe theres some surveillance programs up for reauthorization. What would you say to the American People as names are unmasked on the last day that people are in office and classified information appears on the front pages of major u. S. Newspapers . How would you tell your constituents, lets reauthorize this program again, despite the fact that we have abuses . How would it help us make that argument when we go home. Mr. Gowdy, you and your colleagues are going to have to make that argument based on the merits of the program and the importance of it to our National Security, as well as trying to send a reassuring message to them that if there had been any abuses of the accesses to that information, either because of the number of people involved or those who were, in fact, violating their oath of office, that you and your colleagues will do Everything Possible to make sure you work with the executive branch to minimize and mitigate that danger and that prospect. Time expired. Ms. Stefani . Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank you director brennan for your service. My questions will be focused on the process and development of the Intelligence Community assessment. As you know, the Previous Administration directed the Intelligence Community to produce a comprehensive Intelligence Report assessing russian activities and intentions on december 9. The unclassified version of that report Incorporated Information as of december 29. In your experience as an analyst and as the director, what is the average time that it typic the unclassified version Incorporated Information as of december 29th. In your experience as an analyst and director, what produces the assessment . It can range from dates to month. Depending on the complexity of the matter of urgency getting something out. And impact on the timeliness for the comprehensive report, this was produced in 20 days in december. The timeline, the approval process or the staffing. It followed the general model of how you want to do this with some notable exceptions. It involve the fbi, nsa and cia and intelligence, it wasnt cool interagency Community Assessment within 17 agencies. For good reason, the nature and sensitivity of the information trying to keep it tightly cardin compartmented. As far as the rigor and the sourcing, and the general standards. No individual from the cia, fbi, nsa, and the staffing process. Not to my knowledge, but i wasnt overseeing the protection process. The dni was overseeing the production process . It was a dni produced assessment. It is not clear if anyone in the white house was part of the approval of the process with the knowledge you have . It would not have been the type of review of this process. What happened between 2 the 29th, the date of the last information listed in the ita and when the report was published, were there any additional edits outside the norms . The last few days, we remind people from the holiday period. Trying to make sure they are provided to the current president in january. The russian rule in hacking of us political entry in july 2015, publicly acknowledged by the ic in october 2016. Why were these not ordered until september . There were ongoing assessments, in the opening testimony, briefing the seniormost officials and to ensure the fbi and dhs do what they do to protect government institutions, there were additional details. It allows us to know that we were not seeing certain things. The assessment that was done in december, published in january was the culmination of the work that had taken place in months before. There is a two month lag for the administration to direct the dni, this was acknowledged as an issue months earlier during the year. I want to touch upon the Previous Administrations action on the server 29th in response to the russian government harassing us officials in cyberoperations which declared persona non grata 35 russian operatives and two russian compound in the us, did you recommend any action to the Administration Prior to december 29th or prior to the november election . I wasnt recommending. We discussed what different options might be. Did you suggest different options prior to the election or december 29th . That was discussed. My time is expired and i yield back. Thank you, mister chairman and director brennan. I join my colleagues in thanking you for your years of service which we overlap in the cia and i hope you are enjoying not getting late calls at night and you look fresh. My first question, i apologize in advance for asking questions, did you know when at certain times, i have difficulty remembering what happened this morning. But nevertheless i will continue. In 2016, collecting intelligence on foreign entities attempt to influence our election a collection priority last year in 2016. Does that fall under the broader counterintelligence collection priorities of the cia . Counterintelligence and collection efforts. What is ops intel . Operational intelligence that is not formally disseminated but something of operational value to any investigation. Prior to the fool accounting in december 2016, we are going to do a complete intelligence assessment, was there any ops intel, to change into intelligence, during that assessment. There was an effort to make sure, and what was available, everything information that was available to the entire community including that december, ultimately the report was dated january 6th. I would defer to the folks at the agency. Just because everything was produced by an Intelligence Report doesnt mean it goes to everybody in the community, recipient lists and depending on the sensitivity it is broadly disseminated or narrowly disseminated. One of the issues this committee is focused on is figuring out what was the Us Government response to these russian measures and what do we need to do to protect ourselves and our allies in the future . One of my concerns, did we escalate soon enough, quickly enough, did we notify those that were targeted soon enough, and what we had access to at the time it was collected. My question was knowing what you know now, would you have directed the cia to do things differently . I have asked myself that question. We tried to do everything we could to fill our responsibilities which was to learn what we could about the russian efforts because we didnt know the extent of it so we had to be careful about what we did so we could protect certain communities and try to assess what was happening, the executive branch seniors informed, the gang of 8 informed, so hindsight is always clearer to folks, this committee and other committee, what we are going to take a look at. Was it perfect . Nothing is perfect but we tried to do the best job we could. Is the Intelligence Community prepared or ready to counter covert action directed against us. Or direct measures as russians like to call it. How do we develop a strategy to counter covert action against us and i only have seven seconds. Current agency and other officials. I yield back. I spoke earlier, i was at cia headquarters on the morning of january 20th, i went to collect some final personal materials as well as to pay my last respects to the Memorial Wall and i was there for a brief time, just to take care of some final things that were important to me. We were at the end of an open hearing. Our committee is charged with answering important questions. As my colleagues have said, the elements of success, disInformation Campaign and active measures, and it is up to us as citizens to not let that happen. Where, when and what ultimately, thank you for being part of that exercise this morning. We intend to have a closed session that will start in 30 minutes, we have sandwiches available if you like blues with that, we are recessed until closed session downstairs, thank you very much. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] Homeland Security secretary john kelly will be on capitol hill today to discuss his departments annual budget, and the house appropriation subcommittee hearing, we will bring it to you live at 3 00 eastern time on cspan3, cspan. Org and see zen radio apps. Sunday onq and a. I had a friend who was vaporized along with the 6 man Security Team that i had built together and sent to the airport. Took three weeks to separate them all. War is not a game, not a funny thing. Counterterrorism and Intelligence Officer malcolm maps career and most recent book the plot to hack america, however boudins cyber spies and wikileaks tried to steal the 2016 election and hacking isis, how to destroy the cyber jihadi. America came out of hacking isis while we were writing hacking isis, we found that there were two hacks that were done against someone in france. And germanys parliament. Were attributed to isis, while we were studying that i learned the methodology, the malware that was introduced and the place where the server is terminated that were stealing the information where not isis but what are now known as atp 28, cozy there, the name that crowd strike, the Cyber Security company gave for their interpretation of the malware package that belonged to Russian Military intelligence. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern on cspans q and a. Iran analyst and journalist discuss Hassan Rouhanis recent reelection where he won 57 of the vote. What the election means for us iranian relations to improve relations with the west