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You are here: Home / Politics / America / Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Committee Live Feed: Deputy AG Rosenstein, Acting FBI Director McCabe, DNI Coats, and DIRNSA Rogers Testimony

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Committee Live Feed: Deputy AG Rosenstein, Acting FBI Director McCabe, DNI Coats, and DIRNSA Rogers Testimony

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The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will soon come to order for the day and hear testimony from Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, Director of National Intelligence Coats, Acting Director of the FBI McCabe, and Director of the National Security Agency ADM Rogers.

Expect a great deal of, at least, Admiral Rogers testimony to deal with Monday’s news about attempted Russian hacking of election systems and the officials who oversee them. Also keep an eye out for what both the Democrats and the Republican members are asking about. If the GOP members quickly move to and stick with questions about unmasking then there is a coordinated, predetermined strategy similar to what we saw a few weeks ago in the House Select Committee on Intelligence’s hearing to try to shift the narrative to something less damaging and more advantageous to the GOP and the President. Given that Senator Burr has already said a focus will be on renewing the FISA Act later this year, this may be an easy move to make.

Here’s the live feed:

I’ll be back shortly with a brief piece on the terrorist attacks in Iran and later today/tonight with a piece on the Russian active measures campaign against Qatar.

Reader Interactions

76Comments

  7. 7.

    MisterForkbeard

    Wait, there’s DOUBTS as to whether Republicans will waste everyone’s time with more “unmasking” BS?

    At this point, “carrying water” doesn’t begin to describe the level of support Republicans are giving Trump.

  8. 8.

    Immanentize

    Expect a great deal of, at least, Admiral Rogers testimony to deal with Monday’s news about attempted Russian hacking of election systems and the officials who oversee them.

    This is where we will get the true — but frustrating — statements from Rogers that his job is to discover and analyse information, not to make any conclusions about the information. This is such a critically important part of the tale that most just don’t understand — don’t look to these guys for opinions or conclusions, ask them about facts. How many, where, who… NOT why? or How come? Then, you can aske them how confident they are of the facts. Keep it clean! If the Dem. Senators would do this with the intelligence agents that come before them, we would be further down this road already.

  10. 10.

    Immanentize

    @Corner Stone:

    I like mine with lettuce and tomato
    Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes
    Big kosher pickle and a cold draught beer
    Well, good god almighty, which way do I steer…

  14. 14.

    Adam L Silverman

    @D58826: Only saw the most briefest bit about him an hour or so ago. I understand his law firm took the Russian government on as a client last year for something. And that Marcy Wheeler has some sort of thing about something he did vis a vis AG Ashcroft that I haven’t had a chance to look at yet. Other than that I’ve never heard of him and fully expect that his nomination is going to get dragged way out given what is going on, which also increases the chances that he backs out as the meshugas drags on.

  16. 16.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Corner Stone: Thanks, now I want a cheeseburger.

    I was up at 0537. How do I know? That’s when Ruby, my 3 year old lab/rottie/cataloula mix decided to sit on my head to alert me to the fact that the monsoon we’ve been having for the last three days had started back up.

  18. 18.

    Immanentize

    @Corner Stone: It will be re-approved, but concern has been expressed.
    The new version may actually increase the likelihood that US citizen data will be shared because of the new provision of downstream information release.

    Oh well, 1984 all over again.

  20. 20.

    amygdala

    Thanks, Adam. I made the mistake of checking my phone before attempting to sleep about midnight PST or so. BBC had just tweeted out “breaking news, attacks in Tehran.” Sleep, schmeep.

  21. 21.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Corner Stone: Coats’ testimony, and a chunk of Rogers’, will be about rebutting, without mentioning it, a hatchet job done on 702 and the NSA by Circa that is circulating among conservative and right wing commenters, political consultants, and politicians. The author of the piece doesn’t understand the law and has basically written a one sided screed attempting to use the government’s own disclosure to the FISA Court about when non-compliance occurred per that court’s instructions. Since a lot of this, based on the FOIAed FISA Court information on this, occurred during the Obama Administration it is part of the larger: Obama spied on Americans, Obama’s evil appointees unmasked people, Obama spied on the President and his folks and this is all part of some Obama plot to delegitimize the President and his administration plot.

    Circa is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, which cut a special deal with Jared Kushner during the campaign for favorable coverage. They took on Boris Epshteyn when he had to leave the White House position he had because of the CI investigation into Russia (there is some informed speculation that he is Source E in the Steele dossier) and amid ongoing, informed RUMINT that he is Bratva, as their director of political analysis. Leading to the recently debuted The Bottom Line with Boris segments that Sinclair Broadcasting is pushing to its local affiliates and forcing them to air.

    So you can now connect the dots.

  27. 27.

    Corner Stone

    Well, that’s pretty much that. What we heard from Rogers is what we should expect to hear all through this hearing.

  28. 28.

    Immanentize

    Adam,

    Turkey sending troops to Qatar
    Iran claims attack in Tehran was the work of Saudi Arabia.

    Any thoughts besides WASF?

  30. 30.

    hovercraft

    @MisterForkbeard:
    Watching Morning Joke today I was amused by him continually saying that the next two days are going to be a test of whether the republican party is about the three “C’s”, courage, character, and country or party. They apparently have an opportunity to stand up and do what’s right for the country or allow themselves to be complicit with Twitler’s corruption. If they talk about leaks and unmasking they will show the entire country what their choice is. Then you had Steve Schmidt, who has been one of the few to call Twitler and his regime what they are, a band of small, petty, incompetent, kleptocratic buffoons, say with a straight face that this will be a test of young rising stars like Tom Cotton, a combat vet, with a Harvard degree who could one day be a national leader of the party, and Rubio, this is their chance to prove their mettle. I guess even though the orange menace has exposed himself, even the people who see him for what he is, refuse to see that he is merely a symptom, the disease has ravaged the entire body of the GOP, and Twitler is just the festering sore on the surface, there is no decency or viable policy that the GOP would be pursuing if not for him, other than giving more tax cuts to the rich. They exist only for that purpose to enrich the already rich even more, that’s it.

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @hovercraft: Cotton and Rubio had dinner at the White House last night

    test of young rising stars like Tom Cotton, a combat vet,

    Schmidt is one of those who never served in uniform who fetishizes and apes what he perceives to be military culture

  33. 33.

    JPL

    Coats and Rogers are cowards. Warner is not asking about classified information, so the open hearing stuff is bullshit.

  35. 35.

    hovercraft

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    I know, and even if they didn’t, when has any of these assholes ever put country first? They all voted for and supported everything he’s done so far. Rubio has joined the “concerned” brigade, given that Ayotte lost, there’s an opening in the three concerned, responsible, foreign policy expert, amigos. Cotton is a right wing hack and the fact that the party has moved so far to the right that Cotton and Rubio can be considered run of the mill republicans is telling. The party is insane, anyone who thinks these assholes aren’t going to talk about leaks and unmasking is delusional.

  36. 36.

    tobie

    @JPL: I’m at work so I can’t watch. Are Coats and Roger’s trying to pour water on the idea Trump asked them to intervene in or dispute the FBI investigation?

  37. 37.

    JPL

    @tobie: Both said they were not pressured, but would not say whether or not, the president suggested they back off. Coats will only give more information in a closed hearing, which is normally used for classified information.
    Comey was fired, and I assume the cowards are afraid that will be their fate, if they state the obvious.

  38. 38.

    Corner Stone

    @tobie: They could not have answered “Yes” more strongly if they had said the actual word Yes as their answer. Instead they issued and repeated the most banal denial possible and refused to comment further on it saying it was inappropriate to discuss private conversations they may have had with the POTUS.
    This is all that will be remembered from this hearing. Coats and Rogers stating that Trump did not try to pressure them in any way.

  39. 39.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @hovercraft: I think besides being a far right nutcase, Cotton is just a nutcase. He gives me a strong “that boy ain’t right” vibe.
    ETA: Rubio is just dumb

  41. 41.

    bupalos

    @hovercraft: Just for folks who don’t know, Cotton is straight up old-school NeoCon. That’s a sort of moderate these days I guess, at least in the sense that those guys spend half their time sitting around laughing their asses off about how gross and stupid the “populist” alt-right wingers they believe they control are. For the most part don’t really believe in the racism and jingoism themselves, they just believe it’s useful because they can seize power and start wars with it and become Winston Churchill.

  44. 44.

    The Moar You Know

    even the people who see him for what he is, refuse to see that he is merely a symptom

    @hovercraft: If my party had put up someone like Trump, I’d really want to believe that it was a one-off thing and not a systemic symptom like Trump is.

    I have a feeling that my personal faith in my party is going to get sorely tested in 2018 depending on who the Dem party decides to back for the California governorship.

  46. 46.

    Chris

    @bupalos:

    I think they believe that they don’t believe in racism and jingoism themselves, if that makes any sense, but have still picked up a much bigger dose of it than they realize. The entire Iraq project reeked of mission civilizatrice type benevolent paternalism.

    I’d say that neocons are basically like the upper crust colonial elite, the ones who don’t get their own hands dirty or see much of the day to day effects of their rule, and therefore can spend all day buttering each other up with flattering bullshit about how much good they’re doing for the natives. Whereas for the teabaggers and the rest of what’s now mainstream conservatism, the mentality is closer to that of the grunts lower down the chain, who don’t give a shit about the colonial project, don’t really want to be there, and take out all their frustrations on the first native available.

  49. 49.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: For your consideration: Captain Cotton’s second and last tour was done assigned to a Provincial Reconstruction Team. This is not a choice assignment. Rather it is where you get stuck when no one wants you on the Brigade or Battalion staff and no one is going to give you a company level command. I have no idea what his first tour was like, but being assigned to a PRT was sort of like being sent to the Island of Misfit Toys.

  51. 51.

    Adam L Silverman

    @tobie: He is and he isn’t a political appointee. The Director NSA, who is currently dual hatted as Commander of US Cyber Command, is a serving four star general officer/flag officer. The decision to award that rank and place someone in that assignment is a decision made by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

  52. 52.

    Adam L Silverman

    @bupalos: @Immanentize: He has a constant zipper malfunction, chases women around his desk, and plays grab ass all the time? I did not know that about the good senator.

  53. 53.

    hovercraft

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: @bupalos:
    I’m with JFL, the guy is off. He’s a nut job, I remember reading somewhere that he was recruited/groomed to be a right wing loon with the perfect credentials to one day be an ideal candidate for one of two things, president, or a supreme court justice. He’s not just a neo-con, he’s a Federalist plant, and fiscally he’s on par with OMB Director Mulvaney. He’s no moderate, he is an extremist, and the fact that he’s portrayed as your run of the mill republican is dangerous.

  54. 54.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Feebog: It’s the WW II era British Army Sergeant Major mustache. The power of something like that is immeasurable!

  55. 55.

    Cheryl Rofer

    I am mainly watching on Twitter while multitasking on other things, including cleaning the cat box.

    An interesting question is surfacing that I would like for our lawyers to comment on.

    It appears that Coats and Rogers don’t want to talk about their conversations with the president. They are not invoking executive privilege, nor is he – yet! Might for closed session, they are going to check.

    I have some sympathy for people not wanting to expose sensitive deliberations in public. OTOH, there is a responsibility to be open with the public as far as possible. Exactly where do those lines kick in? Testimony before Congress is not the same as testimony in court, I think. Or perhaps there are gradations of congressional testimony.

    Can someone clear that up?

  56. 56.

    hovercraft

    @The Moar You Know:

    If my party had put up someone like Trump, I’d really want to believe that it was a one-off thing and not a systemic symptom like Trump is.

    Steve Schmidt has no business acting all self righteous, saying they’ve lost their minds, he’s the one who foisted La Palin on McGrumpy, yes the angry old man made the decision, but it was Schmidt who told him that choosing her was his only shot at winning. He chose an unqualified moron to be the VP candidate in order to win, talk about Country First! Fuck him, he built this!

  57. 57.

    rikyrah

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Circa is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, which cut a special deal with Jared Kushner during the campaign for favorable coverage. They took on Boris Epshteyn when he had to leave the White House position he had because of the CI investigation into Russia (there is some informed speculation that he is Source E in the Steele dossier) and amid ongoing, informed RUMINT that he is Bratva, as their director of political analysis. Leading to the recently debuted The Bottom Line with Boris segments that Sinclair Broadcasting is pushing to its local affiliates and forcing them to air.

    Uh huh
    Uh huh

  60. 60.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    Slightly OT, but I’ve never noticed Silverman not using proper abbreviated titles when referring to military/IC types.

  61. 61.

    Adam L Silverman

    @D58826: At that point, even if he’d wanted to stay in, we were drawing down. The point where almost all the O3s were making O4 and the vast majorities of O4s making O5 because we had to have the bodies for OIF and OEF were over and the standards were tightening back up. I try not to disparage anyone’s service, and have no idea why he volunteered.

  63. 63.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Amanda in the South Bay: I’m over acculturated. I try to do the same thing with elected and appointed officials. One of my peeves was the way that conservatives and Republicans went out of their way to not use the appropriate appellations for President Clinton and Vice President Gore and many of President Clinton’s appointees in the 90s. It was a semantic, information operations strategy to deny these folks the legitimacy of their elected or appointed offices and to signal to people that the speaker or writer didn’t consider them to really be the President of VP or secretary of whatever. I may have professional, let alone personal political concerns, with a lot of elected and appointed officials, but delegitimizing them through failing to refer to them properly is unacceptable.

  65. 65.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    @Adam L Silverman: Interesting. I wasn’t being critical, it’s just a noticeable way of writing. I’ll be honest titles are very rarely on my mind.

  66. 66.

    JPL

    This hearing has left me concerned about our future, since the witnesses appear hell bent on protecting the president.
    My stomach is once again in knots.

  69. 69.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @JPL:

    Yes, I get the feeling that it’s not really Trump that’s being protected – it’s the entire system of white male supremacy and Trump is its avatar. There are too many white men who would accept being controlled by Russia than “those people”, and have doubled down on protecting their status relative to them, than to the country that is changing around them. Our institutions have failed because of the threat to the racist operating system that they’ve run on and been girded by, posed by women and PoC. They’d prefer to see it burn to the ground than capitulate.

  71. 71.

    Tenar Arha

    @JPL: Based on review of a Twitter feed or two I tend to think they were parsing their words very very carefully. @RVAWonk said:


    DNI Coats: Didn’t feel “pressured” re. Russia probe
    NSA Dir Rogers: Wasn’t “directed” to end probe

    **Neither said they were not ASKED**

    ETA: According to multiple Tweeters this, with the Comey memos & Reince Priebus’ behavior with Comey’s deputy, shows a pattern of behavior that can’t be explained away as simply inexperience.

  72. 72.

    Miss Bianca

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I have no idea what his first tour was like, but being assigned to a PRT was sort of like being sent to the Island of Misfit Toys.

    And this, this is the kind of commentary we pay you the big bucks for. Or would, if we did. ; )

    Kind of glad no one else is in the office today, so I can have my laugh in peace and quiet!

  73. 73.

    Adam L Silverman

    @JPL: The Democrats and Senator King who caucuses with him are pissed! The GOP members aren’t quite sure what to be. The folks testimony were being cagey as they don’t want to create any problems for themselves – from the Senate, from the President, or from Mueller. Tomorrow is going to be the main event.

  74. 74.

    Corner Stone

    It’s the WW II era British Army Sergeant Major mustache. The power of something like that is immeasurable!

    If Sen King had said to Adm Rogers, “Fuck your feelings”. I would have needed to call 911 for a defib.

  76. 76.

    Singular

    I love how “they” have consistently spoken about Trump, as if he is a child. When whoever the fuck that was, “the president is a voracious consumer of information,… and asking questions”. Sounds like me talking about my daughter. Who is 5.

    Please BJers, get this guy out. It’s gone beyond the rest of the world laughing at you, it’s too serious, and we feel a bit scared and sick besides.

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