Russia meddling to help Trump win re-election, US lawmakers hear
US intelligence agencies have warned that Russia is attempting to help President Donald Trump get re-elected in November, US media report.
The comments were said to have come in a closed-door briefing to the House Intelligence Committee on 13 February.
Mr Trump sacked his acting intelligence chief, Joseph Maguire, a week later.
Reacting to the reports, President Trump said they were “another misinformation campaign” – and “hoax” launched by his Democratic opponents.
The New York Times reported that Mr Trump was particularly angry that Adam Schiff, the Democrat who led the impeachment proceedings against him, was at the briefing.
During the House intelligence briefing, Mr Trump’s supporters argued that the president had taken a hard stance with Russia, and that European ties and security had been strengthened as a result, the newspaper added.
Mr Schiff later tweeted that if Mr Trump was in any way “interfering” with the sharing of information between US intelligence agencies and Congress regarding foreign interference in the election process, the president was “jeopardising” attempts to stop it.
On Friday, the Kremlin denied the allegations. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters they were “paranoid announcements” that had “nothing to do with the truth”, Reuters reported.
Mr Maguire was a favourite to be nominated for the permanent Director of National Intelligence (DNI) post, the Washington Post said.
However, the paper said the president changed his mind when he found out about the briefing, and what he called the “disloyalty” of his staff.
The president announced this week that Mr Maguire would be replaced by Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany and a Trump loyalist.
Two Trump administration officials told the New York Times that the replacement of Mr Maguire, so soon after the contentious briefing, was a coincidence.
Democrats criticised the president for appointing Mr Grenell, who has previously played down the extent of Russian interference in the last election, and has celebrated the rise of far-right politicians in Europe.
Ned Price, a former aide to Mr Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, said the president had “dropped the charade that he has any use for intelligence”.
“He has just named the most political – and abrasive – US ambassador to what is supposed to be the least political – and undoubtedly delicate – role,” he tweeted.
On Friday, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate beaten by Mr Trump in 2016, tweeted a jab at her old foe.
