On Tuesday, Former CIA Director John Brennan testified before the House Intelligence Committee, and things did not turn out as planned for the GOP. Brennan not only said essentially everything they didn’t want to hear but added details that were previously not made public about his own knowledge of the foreign “social hack” attempts.
Rep. Denny Heck, my daughter’s congressman, opened up the proceeding with a question, or rather, an invitation for Brennan to explain his concern:
In your own words, please tell my constituents…Why they should care. Why do you care, sir?
What followed was absolutely incredible:
Watch every word of this Brennan answer — why every American should care about Russia interfering with the very foundation of our democracy pic.twitter.com/AXP9GN114b
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 23, 2017
But that was just the beginning. Brennan went on to reveal some explosive details:
- He personally saw enough evidence that, while he had no outright proof of collusion, certainly made him feel an investigation was warranted.
- He warned the Russian intelligence community about interfering in August of last year.
- He briefed Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and the chairs and ranking members of both chambers’ Intelligence Committees three months before the election about Russian interference.
- Democrats wanted to go public with that information, and, because it was classified, were stopped by Republicans.
- He was asked by the GOP to publicly refute intelligence about Russian interference.
- He confirmed “contacts and interactions” between the Trump campaign — not just various people involved with it — and Russia before the election.
- He testified that Russia was actively recruiting Americans, even some who had no idea they were being used, to help their effort to elect Trump.
All in all, John Brennan did everyone proud today, even if all he had done was make Rep. Trey Gowdy’s jaw drop to the floor. Gowdy is used to steamrolling witnesses and pushing his own narratives. When he tried to needle Brennan on direct evidence of collusion, he told him:
I don’t do evidence. I do intelligence.
And all of that intelligence points right back to the Trump campaign. Again.
Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images
