Links to the russian government reached out to the Trump Campaign to telegraph the kremlins preference for mr. Trump. Joseph masud a london based malt east professor told george pap pop dops topz who told him the russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton including thousands of emails. Papadopoulos was informed that the russian government could assist the campaign through the anonymous release of stole be material. At the time mr. Papadopoulos was given this extraordinary information, the American Public was unaware that the dnc and Clinton Campaign had been hacked, let alone russia was behind the attack and planned to weaponize the data it stole. In july of 2016, the russian government began dumping the stolen emails in precisely the same fashion it had previewed for mr. Papadopoulos. It was informed of the russian outreach to papadopoulos and ware wire eaware that the russians medding through the aanonymous release of information gnat fbi opened up its investigation. But as james comey would explain in the first public testimony on the matter in march 2017 and before in committee the investigation began not as a criminal probe but as a counterintelligence investigation. What does that mean . How does the counterintelligence investigation differ from a criminal investigation . What does it mean a u. S. Person may be acting as a waiting or unwitting agent of a foreign power . And how could the russians use the compromise of u. S. Persons in a manner that jeopardizes National Security . These are the questions we hope to answer. During a second of series of hearing the committee will sploerp the special counsels disturbing findings in volume one of the report. And to examine what steps are necessary to protect the public, our democracy and our National Security. We will hear from two former senior fbi executives who oversaw the Counterintelligence Division of the bureau who will help us better understand the counterintelligence complications of the range of contacts between the Trump Campaign and russians directly or indirectly tied to kremlin Intelligence Services. Volume one of the report outlines a sweemg and systemic effort by russia to interfere in the 2016 election for the benefit of donald trump. It establishes that the Trump Campaign welcomed the russian interference because it expected to benefit electorally from information stolen and released through the russian effort. It shows how the Trump Campaign built the theft and dumping of stolen russian domes that Campaign Messaging and strategy and as special counsel made clear it sets out in great detail why the conduct in his report should concern every american. The report details well over 10 oh contacts between the Trump Campaign and agents and officials of russia. Some of this outreach was conducted in public as when the president called on russia to hack his opponents emails and only hours later a unit of the Russian Military intelligence, the gru attempted to do exactly that. Other contacts took place outside of the public view as in the case of june 9, 2016 meeting at trump tower in new york. Between a russian delegation and the president s eldest son donald trump junior, his soninlaw Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, Trumps Campaign chairman. That meeting was part of a plan to secretly receive help in the formal of dirt on Hillary Clinton from the russian government. Still other contacts with it between because of encrypted apps destroyed communications and deception remain shrouded in secrecy such as manaforts meeting was Konstantin Kilimnik someone the fbi assesses to have ties to russian intelligence. Manaforts provision of internal polling data to kilimnik and the discussion of the Campaign Strategy for winning democratic votes in midwestern states. Most americans consider the solicitation of forbear help during a president ial campaign, the offer of foreign assistance and the campaigns eagerness to accept the offer, quote, if tws what you say it is, i love it to institute plain evidence of collusion. Not to mention, the sharing of polling data and Campaign Strategy by the chairman of a campaign with a foreign nation which at that very tame time is interveeng to help their campaign win. Nevertheless within and contrary to the president s oft repeated manhattan ray and the many misrepresentations of the attorney general, the special counsel reached no conclusion a to whether the trump anticipates Campaign Russian contacts constituted cloudtogrounds since that term is not defined in criminal law. For those who have not yet read the report and most have not they might be astonished to find that a finding of no inclusion much less a finding of no instruction is no where to be seen on any page or passage of the Mueller Report. Instead in making its charging decisions the special counsel examined only whether it could meet the Justice Departments high bar of being able to eable to prove beyond aable reasonable doubt at trial each element of the crime of conspiracy and found it cano could not even as it Elvis Presleyed that the failure to establish a conspiracy did not mean the absence of evidence of conspiracy. Volume one of the Mueller Report is therefore by its nature and the special counsels mandate a report about the exercise of prosecutial judgment, who should be charged and who shouldnt. It does not contain the fbis counterintelligence findings, that is where Trump Campaign transition or administration figures, including the president , acting as agents of a foreign power waitingly or unwittingly, whether advancing foreign or other foreign interests by virtue of financial cent estes or compromise, whether or not such actions were a crime. These are the types of concerns that the fbis counterinterrelation division works to expose, prevent and investigate using an array of investigative and intelligence capabilities. As we will hear from our witnesses today, the primary objective of a counterintelligence investigation is not to target an individual for prosecution. But to pret the nation by developing information about the actions and intelligences of foreign powers and to thwart them before they can act against us. The president s efforts to make money from a real estate project in moscow and to conceal the transaction from the public are a quintessential example of a counterintelligence nightmare that may or may not include criminal activity. It may not be a criminal to build a trump tower in moscow. Or for Michael Cohen to seek the kremlins help to do so. It may not be a criminal to try to enrich norz with a foreign business deal even while running for president or lie about it to the American People. But it is deeply compromising. And not only because of the inducement of hundreds of millions of dollars that is only part of it. It is also deeply compromising because the russians were on the other end of the transaction and could expose the president s due placety at any time. In fact when the trumps organizations efforts to enlist the kremlins help in the deal with exposed dmifrtry pesk off putin spokesman told the International Media that the kremlin never responded to Michael Cohens outreach thanks our Mueller Report and our investigation we know that mr. Peskovs statement was a lie. The kremlin did follow up. Here we have the prokt of kremlin participating in a coverup by the president of the United States. Here is what we know. The president sought to make money from a foreign power during the campaign. So did some of his children. So did his Campaign Manager and deputy Campaign Manager. So did his personal lawyer and his National Security adviser. Some of the actors have been prosecuted. But all of their actions are deeply compromising of our National Security. And yet muellers report provides no evaluation of the counterintelligence concerns raised by these facts and others. Of you will a the questions mueller helped resolve he left many unanswered. What happened to the counterintelligence investigation . Were there other forms of compromise like Money Laundering left out uninvestigated or referred to other offices . Were individuals granted security clearances that shouldnt have . And are there individuals still operating in the administration that leave america vulnerable . We are determined to find out. And i now yield to Ranking Member for for any opening remarks he would like to make. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Here we are more than two years since democrats from this committee publicly claimed to have more than circumstantial evidence that the Trump Campaign colluded with russians to hack the 2016 election. And more than two years since they read false allegations in the steele dossier in the congressional record at open hearing of the committee. After that the American People were subjected to endless hysteria by the media, democrats and aanonymous intelligence leakers. Seemingly every day the media tri uly published a bombshell story often base on classified documents. The the reporters had not actually seen. Which purportedly proved that President Trump or some trump associate was a trecherrous russian agent. Democrats on this committee regularly joined the news pundit its in denouncing the traitors. Process eventually the democrat became convinced the Mueller Report would rid them of their citizen sister president who had the audacity to defeat Hillary Clinton. The entire scheme has imploded and the collusion accusation has been exposed as a hoax. One would think the democrats would simply apologize and get back to law making and oversight. Pup but its clear they couldnt stop the froh tevfik spectacle even in if they wanted to after years of mccarthyite spears the collusion hoax defines the exact party. Its the hoax they have in place of a governing philosophy who are a constructive vision for our country. The democrats assembled us today to analyze the shoddy political hit piece known as the Mueller Report. Its written in the same spirit and with the same purpose as the steele dossier which was once championed by democrats on this committee. But which they rarely mentioned after it was exposed as yet another democrat created hoax. Unfortunately for the democrats, the mueller dossier as i call it either did he bunked many favorite conspiracy theories or did not find them worth discussing. These include muellers finding that Michael Cohen did not travel to praying to conspire with the russians, no evidence that carter page expired with russians, no mention of Paul Manafort visiting julianne assauge in london, no mention of secret communications between a trump tower computer serve and Russias Alpha Bank and no mention of Julia Mitchell or supposed knowledge of pennsylvania scheme to launder money through the nra for the Trump Campaign. Insinuations that mitchell original these insinuation the against mitchell originated with fusion gps fiduciary and were published in a document by democrats on this committee. The really purpose of the mueller dossier how have was to help impeach the president in absence of any evidence of collusion. Us that the report includes a long litany of ordinary contacts between Trump Associates and reschens as if a certain number of contacts indicate a conspiracy even if no conversations actually created or even discussed a conspiracy. Excerpts from a voice mail turbtrump attorney john dowd that the mueller team slesktly edited to make it seem threatening and nefarious. No comment on the close relationship between democrat operative at fusion gps and multiple russians who participated in the june 9th, 2016 meeting at trump tower. And in fact, no mention or comment on fusion gps at all. No useful information on figures who played key roles in the investigation such as Joseph Mifsud a malta dprmt or the australia. Diplomat alexander downer, or the democrat paid operative former sfie Christopher Steele. No useful information about the many irregular harts that marred the fbis russia investigation. Furthermore, the mueller dossier cites dozens of articles from the reporters and publications most responsible for per pert eighting the russian hoax. Thus mueller produced a perfect feedback loop, intelligence leakers spin a false story to the media. The media publishes the story. The mueller cites the story and the media and the democrats then fake outrage at muellers findings. In sum mueller relied on a mass of reporting whose central navt that the Trump Campaign collude totd russians to hack the elections is false opinion and the democrats spread a hoax claiming strufrp as a russianth but later discovered the only people colluding were owe with russians were the democrats, who paid for the steele dossier which relied on russian sources. Id like to remine the democrats on this committee that this was created to do important oversight work of oh our intelligence agencies. This work is more crucial now that the media have abandoned traditional watch dog role and instead have become a mouthpiece of a cab willing of intelligence leakers. I i understand the democratis inability to move back the failed hoax and get back to normal business. Nevertheless, i suggest they give it a try. Welcome the speakers today and look forward to your emtestimony. I yield back. Thank you to our witnesses for coming before the committee today. To assure all members are able to ask questions due to kpeting business, of other committees this morning, todays witnesses will be afraided five minutes each for their Opening Statements which will be strictly enforced well proceed immediately it to member questions. I want to thank our witnesses for joining us for this important open hearing. Stephanie douglas counter serves as senior managering direct of guide post solution addressing high risk investigations and compliance matters. Prior to this attention miss douglas served 23 years in the fbi in a variety of roles including as executive assist directs of the National Security branch. Robert anderson is currently the chief executive officer of cyberdefense labs and previously was a principal at the chert you have a group and managing director at a consulting organization. He served in the fbi rights be to be executive executive direct of the criminal cyber responsance services branching. Id like to welcome the minority witness andrew mccarthy, a former assistant United States attorney like many staff from the Southern District of new york and currently a senior fellow at the National Review institute and cribbing editor of the National Review. And ms. Douglas well start with you. Good morning chairman schiff. Ranking member nunes and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to answer questions relative to volume one of the special counsels report regarding russian interference in the 2016 president ial election. As was established and communicated by the u. S. Intelligence community in early 2017, the russian government systemically and effectively used a a number of intelligence tools to impact the 2016 election. The special counsels report supports the conclusions and provides specific and detailed examples which illustrate of methods of russian influence. Im happy to answer questions regarding this report. But understand that i have no access to any supporting information or investigative detail other than that that is provide in the special counsels report. I proud to have been a special agent in the fbi for almost 24 years. Most of it focused on counterintelligence and National Security matters. While the fbi has been the soubt of much discussion in the press and elsewhere, i support the work of the counterintelligence professionals who worked with the special counsel to conduct this exhaustive investigation. I hope that my presence here and our discussion today will lead to further awareness and preparation for what is certain to be another highthreat election in 2020. So with that, im happy to answer your questions. Thank you. Mr. Anderson. Thank you, Ranking Member nunes, members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to talk about cyberer threats to our great nation and counterintelligence. I hope my background and experience as a former assistant director of intelligence for the fbi where i was responsible for all counterintelligence, espionage and economic espionage matters can assist in shedding light