DON’T UPSET HIM

Intelligence Officials Softened Report on Russia Favoring Trump: NYT

The former Director of National Intelligence said he wouldn’t tone down the finding, and he was fired.

U.S. intelligence officials toned down a report on Russia favoring President Donald Trump to win the 2020 election, The New York Times reports. The director of national intelligence had been asked to do so previously, but he declined. Soon after, Trump fired him. Dan Coats delivered the National Intelligence Estimate, a classified document, in the middle of 2019 to the intelligence community. The report read, “Russian leaders probably assess that chances to improve relations with the U.S. will diminish under a different U.S. president.” Staffers reportedly asked if Coats would soften the finding that Russia clearly favored Trump, which had been gleaned from highly sensitive sources. Coats said he would not. In September, a month after Coats was ousted, a new version of the document emerged without a clear statement on the Kremlin favoring Trump.