O'Brien rejects intelligence report of Russia effort to re-elect Trump
National security adviser Robert O'Brien. Photo: Chris Usher/CBS via Getty Images
White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien repeatedly rejected on ABC's "This Week" an assessment from a congressional briefing led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election to help President Trump get re-elected.
Why it matters: The report put the Trump administration under fresh scrutiny in regard to steps it has been taking to combat the kind of interference that the U.S. encountered in 2016.
- But O'Brien contradicted the intelligence officials' findings, telling ABC's George Stephanopoulos the report was a "nonstory" and that he has not seen any intelligence or analysis to support these claims.
- He did not, however, dismiss a similar finding that Russia is working to help Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, saying: "That's no surprise, he honeymooned in Moscow."
What he's saying: "I haven't seen any intelligence that Russia is doing anything to attempt to get President Trump re-elected," he told Stephanopoulos. "We've been very tough on Russia and we've been great on election security."
- He doubled down on his claims in an interview with CBS News' "Face The Nation." Trump implied in a tweet that congressional Democrats were behind the nonpartisan briefing by the intelligence officials.
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