Trump asked 2 US intel chiefs to deny Russia collusion

US President Donald Trump asked two of the nations top intelligence officials to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between his campaign and the Russian government, officials said.

Trump made separate appeals to the Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats and to Admiral Michael S. Rogers, Director of the National Security Agency, urging them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election, the Washington Post reported.

Coats and Rogers refused to comply with the requests, which they both deemed to be inappropriate, according to two current and two former officials, who spoke on anonymity.

Trump sought the assistance of Coats and Rogers after then FBI Director James B. Comey told the House Intelligence Committee on March 20 that the agency was investigating "the nature of any links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts".

Trump's conversation with Rogers was documented contemporaneously in an internal memo written by a senior NSA official, according to the officials.

It was unclear if a similar memo was prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to document Trump's conversation with Coats.

Officials said such memos could be made available to both the special counsel now overseeing the Russia investigation and Congressional investigators, who might explore whether Trump sought to impede the FBI's work, the Post reported.

White House officials said Comey's testimony about the scope of the FBI investigation upset Trump, who dismissed the investigations as a "witch hunt." The President repeatedly said there was no collusion.

Current and former senior intelligence officials viewed Trump's requests as an attempt by the President to tarnish the credibility of the agency leading the Russia investigation, said the report.

The NSA and Brian Hale, a spokesman for Coats, declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

"The White House does not confirm or deny unsubstantiated claims based on illegal leaks from anonymous individuals," a White House spokesperson said.

"The President will continue to focus on his agenda that he was elected to pursue by the American people," the spokesperson said.

The new revelations add to a growing body of evidence that Trump sought to co-opt and then undermine Comey before he fired him on May 9.

--IANS

soni/dg