Secret information. The reporter cant tell who it is because speaking on condition of anonymity, that should be interpreted im breaking the law and i shouldnt be outed. Sometimes. I think there are other motives behind people requesting anonymi anonymity. So the fbi was consistent in the assessment that it hurt hillary and her potential candidacy and across all of that that they intended to help trump, thats your testimony this morning . Correct. Thank you. Yield back. Mr. King. Mr. Chairman, if you could yield me a few minutes into the next round. Ill start and make the comment. Let me thank director comey and admiral rogers for being here today and cooperation youve always given to this committee. Director comey, i understand your situation where you cant comment on the investigation, yet we have various scenarios laid out that could go on for months and months and months without anyone being able to prove them until the investigation is completed. I like to use the example, we could have said in 2012 president obama was overheard in a microphone saying if im reelected tell vladimir we can work out better arrangements. I know he ridiculed candidate romney in 2012 election when romney said he thought russia was still a threat and in 2013, we saw that president obama invited russians into syria when they had been removed from the middle east 40 years before. Also, as far as aid to ukraine, as far as i recall, Obama Administration always refused and argued that the republican platform in 2016 was stronger than the democratic platform. If there was an investigation going on, we can lay out these scenarios and say that proves something or it might prove something. Until the investigation was completed, that type of almost possibly slanderous comments could be made. Im not asking you to hurry the investigation along. You have to do what you have to do. But i guess i would ask you in remaining moments i have in this round, i know that it was just two weeks ago that director clapper said that as far as he knows all of the evidence hes seen theres no evidence of any collusion at all between the Trump Campaign and the russians. Now, a detailed exhaustive report was put out talking about russian influence in the campaign and all of the intelligence apparatus had input into that. Either you or admiral rogers have any reason to disagree with the conclusion of general clapper that theres no evidence of collusion between the russians and the Trump Campaign . Mr. King, its not something i can comment on. Likewise, im not going to comment on an ongoing investigation. Youre not going to disagree with general clapper. Youre just not going to comment. The reason i point out is thats the situation the other way around. You kmant comment something and often theres an inference that because a persons name is brought up and he may have worked for someone at a certain time that theres a guilt implied in that. Im not being critical of either of you. Im saying this is a situation that can be damaging to the country and does advance the russian interest of trying to destabilize democracy and cause a lack of confidence in our system. With that i yield back, mr. Chairman. Recognize mr. Schiff for 15 minutes. A couple questions before i pass. It wasnt simply that the russians had a negative preference against secretary clinton. They had a positive preference for donald trump, isnt that correct . Correct. I want to ask you to say whether this is an accurate characterization of donald trump. I wouldnt put you in that spot. Would it be logical for the kremlin to prefer a candidate that disparaged nato to be president of the United States . Youre not going to put me in that spot . Im not going to ask you if thats an accurate characterization of mr. Trumps views but it would be advantageous for russia to have someone elected that had a dim view of nato . Thats beyond my responsibilities. Well, what is the russian view of nato . Do they like nato . Do they want to say nato strong . Again, im sure you have already spoken to people who are greater experts than i, yeah, they dont like nato. They think nato encircles them and threatens them. Would they have a preference for a candidate that expressed an openness appealing the restrictions over ukraine . I wouldnt answer that. Would they like to see sanctions over ukraine go away nch. Yes. Mr. Putin would like people who like him. Would they have a preference for candidate that encouraged brexit and other departures from europe . Would they like to see more brexits . Yes. And have the russians in europe demonstrated a prenference for Business People as political leaders with the hope they can entangle them in financial interests or that they may allow their financial interests to take precedence over the interest of the countries in europe they represent . In our joint report we recount that president putin expressed a preference for Business Leaders in leading other governments and mentions schroeder and im going to forget one. He believes that they are people that are more open to negotiation. Easier to deal with. Ill yield. I would like to continue my questioning the line of questioning on michael flynn. Im sure you can understand my concern that mr. Flynn not only failed to disclose the contacts with the Russian Ambassador, but he said he did not remember whether he discussed sanctions against russia with that ambassador. I find that really hard to believe. Wouldnt you think that at the height of our concern about russian hacking that mr. Flynn would have remembered meeting with the Russian Ambassador and would have told him to stop m meddling in our affairs, but that didnt happen, did it . I cant answer that. Not only did mr. Flynn not remember talking to the Russian Ambassador or what they talked about, he also appeared to have lied to Vice President elect mike pence all about it. Now, mr. Comey, do you think mr. Flynns failure to disclose the communication and contact he had with the Russian Ambassador and the topic of conversation along with blatant lie to Vice President pence meet the standard for an investigation by the fbi . I have to give you the same answer. Im not going to comment. I know director comey that you probably cant comment on this as well. I think its really important that we bre viewwe view review line. Mr. Flynn reportedly exchanged Text Messages with the Russian Ambassador. On december 28th, 2016, mr. Flynn reportedly spoke on the phone with the Russian Ambassador. By then, it was pretty clear that the Obama Administration was going to take actions against russia. On december 29th, 2016, mr. Flynn reportedly spoke on the phone with the Russian Ambassador again. That day the Obama Administration expelled 35 russian operatives from the United States and announced new sanctions. We have to know from press reportings that sometime in december mr. Flynn met in person with the Russian Ambassador at trump tower. And that mr. Trumps soninlaw was also there. The purpose of the meeting was to establish a line of communication with the kremlin. I should add that the white house and mr. Flynn didnt disclose this december face to face meeting until this month. On january 12th, 2017, press reported that mr. Flynn contacted the Russian Ambassador again and on january 15th, 2015, Vice President elect mike pence stated on several sunday morning shows regarding mr. Flynns conversation with the ambassador what i can confirm having spoken to him about it is those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions. On january 26th, the acting attorney general reportedly told president Trumps White House counsel who immediately told President Trump that mr. Flynn was vulnerable to russian blackmail because of discrepancies between Vice President elects Public Statement and mr. Flynns actual discussions. On february 10th, President Trump denied knowledge of this telling reporters on air force one, i dont know about that. In response to questions about mr. Flynns conduct. The white house also publicly denied that mr. Flynn and the Russian Ambassador discussed sanctions. Of course on february 13th, 2017, mr. Flynn resigned as National Security adviser. Now, director comey, all of these accounts are open source press reportings. Given russias long standing desire to cultivate relations with influential u. S. Persons, isnt the American Public right to be concerned about mr. Flynns conduct. His failure to disclose that contact with the Russian Ambassador and attempts to cover it up. It looks Like White House attempts to sweep this under a drug. Dont we as American People have a right to know and shouldnt our fbi investigate job claims . I cant comment. I understand peoples curiosity about our work and intense interest in it and often times speculation about it. We cant do it well or fairly to the people we investigate if we talk about it. I cant comment. I would like to turn to another topic to fl flynn. His failure to disclose until pressured last week by my colleagues on the House Oversight and Government Relations committee. Payments he received to the tenth Anniversary Gala of rt, the russian owned propaganda media outlet. According to the january 2017 declassified assessment report, rts criticism of the United States was the last facet of its broader and long standing antiu. S. Messaging likely aimed at undermining viewers trust in the u. S. Democratic procedures. This january assessment points out that this was a strategy that russia employed going back to before the 2012 elections according to the ic assessment. So admiral rogers, am i right that the rt is essentially owned by the russian government and how long has the Intelligence Community been look at rt as an arm of the russian government . Were aware and have been for some period of time of the direct connections. Were aware of monetary flow and other things. How long have you known about that . A few months . A few years . I mean, how long has the United States some number of years. I apologize, maam, i dont know off the top of my head. Arent i right to assume the former director of dia, mr. Flynn, would have been appear that rts role as an antiu. S. Russian prop granaganda im not in a position to comment on that. Would it be normal for a u. S. Official to get paid to attend such an event and would it raise questions at the fbi if that person failed to disclose the payments received for that trip . I dont know in general. As to specific, im just not going to comment. Yes, sir. I understand that you cant comment, but i would like to read an exchange between mr. Flynn and a yahoo news correspondent from july 2016 regarding his trip to russia during the rt event. The correspondent asked were you paid for that event . Then there was back and forth for a bit and then mr. Flynn said, yeah. I didnt take any money from russia if thats what youre asking me. Director comey, isnt it true that the House OversightCommittee Last week received information and released publicly that mr. Flynn accepted nearly 35,000 in speaking fees and traveling fees from rt, this russian government owned media outlet . I believe ive seen news accounts to that effect. Moreover, isnt it also true is that according to the clause of the United States constitution, a Person Holding any office of profit or trust cannot accept gifts or payments from a foreign country and doesnt the dod, department of defense, prohibit retired military officers from taking any consulting fees, gifts, traveling expenses, salary from a Foreign Government including commercial enterprises owned by or controlled by a Foreign Government, like rt . Thats not something i can comment on. Can you speak to whether or not the clause would apply to someone like mr. Flynn, a retired threestar general . I cant. So isnt it i just find it to be really hard to believe that given the clause does apply to retired officers like mr. Flynn, i cant believe that mr. Flynn, a retired military officer, would take money from the russian government in violation of the United States constitution, and i believe that such violations worthy of a criminal investigation by the fbi. What level of proof do we need to have a criminal investigation by the fbi of mr. Flynn . I cant comment on that. Shouldnt the American People be concerned i think that its really hard for us to fathom that he would have received 35,000 as part of a speaking engagement to rt, russian propaganda outlet . I cant comment. My final question is working as an agent of a foreign power. Am i correct that the Foreign Agents registration act requires that individuals that lobby on behalf of a Foreign Government must register with the United States government . I believe thats correct. The reason im saying that is i dont know exactly how to they define things like lobbying in the statue. If youre going to represent a Foreign Government here in the United States touching our government, you should be registered. Isnt it true that last november, 2016, mr. Flynn was working as a Foreign Agent doing work that principleabbenefited of turkey and didnt report on that until last week . I cant comment on that. Mr. Flynn was paid over half a Million Dollars for this work . Similar answer. Isnt it true that the Trump White House on at least two occasions was asked by mr. Flynns lawyers whether he should report that work, the work he was doing on behalf of the turkish government and then the administration didnt give him advice to the contrary . Do you know anything about that . Have to give you the same answer. I know you cannot discuss whether any investigations are ongoing with u. S. Persons and i respect that. I think its important that the American People understand the scope and breath of what in public open source press reportings from mr. Flynns actions that led to his resignation. While we cant talk about whether there is an investigation, i believe us here at the House Permanent Select Committee on intelligence must put those facts into the Public Domain and they are, one, that mr. Flynn lied about his communication with the Russian Ambassador. Secondly, that mr. Flynn lied about taking money from the russian government and thirdly, that mr. Flynn at a minimum did not disclose work as an agent of a foreign power and that the white house did not help in this concern. Its clear to me that mr. Flynn should be under criminal investigation and i know you cannot comment. I believe its my duty as a member of this committee to comment to the American People that his engagement of lying and failure to disclose really Important Information and contacts with a foreign ambassador do rise to the level of disclosure and to me criminal intent. So i say this to say that the American People deserve to know the full extent of mr. Flynns involvement with the russians and the extent to which it influences the 2016 election. I believe our democracy requires it. Thank you. I yield back to my ranking member. Time has expired. Recognize myself for 15 minutes. Mr. Comey and mr. Rogers, you both said that the russians favored donald trump this election, and you made that change from the beginning of december it was not that they were trying to help donald trump, but that changed by early january. Mr. Conway talked about that. I dont agree with that. We didnt change our view from december to early january. We, the fbi, and i dont know that anybody else did on the ic team. From my perspective at some point the assessment changed from going from just trying to hurt Hillary Clinton to know they were trying to help donald trump get elected. That was early december as far as i know. By january you would all change your mind on is that . Thats not my recollection. Thats not my recollection either, sir. Do russians historically prefer republicans to win over democrats . I dont know the answer to that. Did the russians prefer mitt romney over barack obama in 2012 . I dont know that we ever drew a former analytic conclusion. Did russians prefer john mccain in 2008 over barack obama . I never saw a u. S. Intelligence had a position on that issue