3 sanctioned Russian spy chiefs visited the US days before Trump decided against new sanctions on Russia

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President Donald Trump listens to Vice President Mike Pence speak before signing a policy directive to send American astronauts back to the moon, and eventually Mars.

• Three top Russian intelligence officials traveled to the US last week.
• Two of them are banned from entering the US under current sanctions, but one official's visit was authorized and cleared by the appropriate agencies. It's unclear who authorized the second official's entry. 
• The State Department declined to comment on the specifics of the case and referred further questions to the Russian embassy.

The officials who head up two of Russia's top spy agencies visited the US last week to meet with CIA Director Mike Pompeo and discuss issues related to counterterrorism, two people familiar with the matter told Business Insider. 

Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and Alexander Bortnikov, who spearheads the Federal Security Service (FSB), met with Pompeo to discuss the US's and Russia's mutual interest in counterterrorism.

The news was first reported by The Washington Post earlier this week. 

A third official, Igor Korobov, visited the US at the same time as Naryshkin and Bortnikov but did not meet with Pompeo. Korobov leads the GRU, Russia's military intelligence unit. 

Both Naryshkin and Korobov are among several Russian officials who were barred from entering the US under current sanctions. 

Naryshkin was barred after former President Barack Obama signed a 2014 executive order imposing sanctions on Russia following its aggression in the neighboring territory of Crimea. According to the order, which was signed in March 2014, Naryshkin cannot enter the US without a waiver and express approval from the White House and other federal agencies. 

Korobov, meanwhile, was barred after Obama signed another executive order implementing new sanctions in December 2016. He authorized the order after receiving confirmation from the US intelligence community that the Russian government mounted an elaborate campaign to interfere in the 2016 election.

The order imposed sanctions on individuals, like Korobov, who were found to have been responsible for or complicit in "malicious cyber-enabled activities" that represented a threat to US national security.   

Naryshkin's visit raised questions from Democrats and other observers who wondered why the spy chief was allowed entry into the US amid heightened tensions with Russia. The visit also occurred just days before President Donald Trump's administration decided not to impose new sanctions on Russia.

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Sergei Naryshkin

Former diplomats and intelligence officials stressed that it is normal practice for US intelligence heads to meet with their counterparts from adversarial nations to work together on issues of national security interest, like terrorism. 

"It is routine for senior foreign intel officials to come to the US, Russians included," said Glenn Carle, a former CIA operative. "It is not common if they have been banned entry, however. The Russian explanation that they received a waiver on national security grounds rings true. It would be the [CIA director], or the White House, and perhaps the State Department, that would authorize the waiver."

State Department refers questions to the Russian embassy

A CIA representative said Naryshkin's visit was authorized and approved according to proper procedure.

"While we do not discuss the schedules of US intelligence leaders, rest assured that any interaction with foreign intelligence agencies would have been conducted in accordance with US law and in consultation with appropriate Departments and agencies," the representative said in a statement.

A Department of State representative declined to comment on the details of individual visa cases due to legal restraints. The person referred further questions to the Russian embassy in Washington, DC, but declined to explain why.

Richard Kauzlarich, a former deputy assistant secretary of state who specialized in US-Russia relations, questioned why the State Department would make such a move.

"My goodness," he said, adding that the US embassy would have issued Naryshkin the visa to travel to the US. "Quite frankly, I'm not sure why the State Department would refer anyone to the Russian embassy, or what they would be able to tell you." 

While the reason for Naryshkin's and Bortnikov's visits were confirmed and authorized, the purpose of Korobov's visit remains unclear. As the head of the GRU, his counterpart in the US is Lt. Gen. Robert P. Ashley, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

A DIA spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The GRU was the primary Russian intelligence agency responsible for interfering the 2016 election. In addition to hacking and disseminating the Democratic National Committee emails and attempting to breach election systems, Russia also worked to establish personal contact with Americans seen as sympathetic to Moscow. Officials also mounted an elaborate social media campaign aimed at spreading disinformation and stoking partisan bickering via Twitter and Facebook.

Russia appears to be using some of those tactics even now. 

Naryshkin's visit, for example, was first announced by the Russian embassy via its Twitter account.  

"It is no accident the Russians announced this meeting," one US official told CNN on Thursday. "The target was sowing discord in US." 

News of the meeting comes as the Trump administration continues weathering special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's election interference and whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the race in his favor.

The investigation has zeroed in on the White House and on the president himself in recent weeks, particularly as Mueller investigates whether Trump sought to obstruct justice when he fired FBI Director James Comey last May.

Trump's critics have also accused him and his administration of adopting a softer stance towards Russia to appease Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

In particular, they have pointed to the fact that the administration's decision this week not to enforce a sanctions law that Trump signed last August. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that just signing the law had yielded results in the form of deterring Russian defense sales.

"From that perspective, if the law is working, sanctions on specific entities or individuals will not need to be imposed because the legislation is, in fact, serving as a deterrent," Nauert said.

"There are legitimate, plausible reasons" why the three Russian spy chiefs were admitted into the country, Carle said. "And there are the political and other reasons why none of it may be acceptable."

Michal Kranz contributed to this report.