<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59ccf9b5c68d7b6d118b4fc4-2400/gettyimages-458390363.jpg" alt="jack dorsey" data-mce-source="Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images" />Teresa Kroeger/Getty ImagesTwitter CEO Jack Dorsey.</div></div></div>Executives from Facebook, Google, and Twitter will appear in the US Congress in the coming weeks as lawmakers probe Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 US election, committee sources said on Wednesday.A Senate aide said executives from the three firms had been asked by the Senate Intelligence Committee to testify at a public hearing on Nov. 1.News of the hearings comes among growing concern over the influence of Russian-operated fake accounts on social networks. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/technology/twitter-russia-election.html?_r=0">The New York Times reported</a> Wednesday that Twitter bots linked to Russia have been spreading politcally charged messages as recently as last weekend, promoting hashtags and trending topics like #standforouranthem and #takeaknee. Russia-linked bots also spread similar polarizing topics during the 2016 election, the report says.Twitter representatives are expected to appear at a hearing with the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider."Twitter engages with governments around the world on public policy issues of importance and of interest to policymakers," a Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider. "We are cooperating with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in its inquiry into the 2016 election and will meet with committee staff next week. Twitter deeply respects the integrity of the election process, a cornerstone of all democracies, and will continue to strengthen our platform against bots and other forms of manipulation that violate our Terms of Service."The leaders of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said the panel would hold an open hearing with technology companies as part of its investigation."In the coming month, we will hold an open hearing with representatives from tech companies in order to better understand how Russia used online tools and platforms to sow discord in and influence our election," the committee's top Democrat, Representative Adam Schiff, and Representative Mike Conaway, the Republican leading the investigation, said in a statement.They did not immediately identify any companies. But a committee source said the House panel hoped to hear from the same firms. Facebook said last week that it was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-says-facebook-will-release-the-russia-ads-to-investigators-2017-9">turning over ads from fake accounts linked to Russia to US investigators</a>. Facebook said earlier this month it <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-says-fake-accounts-linked-to-russia-bought-ads-during-us-election-2017-9">discovered about $100,000 worth of ads</a> from fake accounts linked to Russia that ran during the 2016 US presidential election.Some US lawmakers, increasingly alarmed about evidence that hackers used the internet to spread fake news and otherwise influence the 2016 election, have been pushing for more information about the influence of social networks in particular.The Senate and House intelligence committees are two of the main congressional panels probing allegations that Russia sought to interfere in the U.S. election to boost Republican President Donald Trump's chances at winning the White House, and possible collusion between Trump associates and Russia.Moscow denies any such activity, and Trump dismissed any talk of such collusion.(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Dustin Volz; Editing by Peter Cooney)Get the latest Google stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/GOOG-Quote"> here.</a> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hidden-mac-macbook-keyboard-shortcuts-video-guide-2017-4">How to take a screenshot on a Mac - and 15 other useful keyboard shortcuts</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/M0Eo72MA-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

There's growing concern that Russia-linked Twitter bots influenced the 2016 election

WHIP COUNT: Here's which members of the House voted for and against impeaching Trump

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58f8ea880ba0b888008b4d4d-2400/rtx2up0x.jpg" alt="carter page" />Sergei Karpukhin/ReutersOne-time advisor of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump Carter Page addresses the audience during a presentation in Moscow, Russia, December 12, 2016.Carter Page, an early foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign team, wrote a letter to the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday indicating that he will testify about the committee's ongoing investigation into Russia's election interference in an open session next month.Page, who worked in Moscow for seven years in the early 2000s as a junior investment banker for Merrill Lynch, wrote the letter in response to former CIA Director John Brennan's testimony before the House Intelligence committee on Tuesday. He provided a copy to Business Insider. Brennan <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/john-brennan-russia-trump-collusion-testimony-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told lawmakers</a> that he grew increasingly concerned last year by conversations that were intercepted by the US intelligence community between members of Trump's campaign team and Russian officials."The vast majority of the open session testimony by Mr. Brennan and other Clinton/Obama regime appointees who have recently appeared before your committee loyally presented one biased viewpoint and base of experience," Page wrote. "When I have my turn next month, I look forward to adding some accurate insights regarding what has really been happening in Russia over recent years including in 2016."Reached for comment, Page said he and the committee are "still working out the details" of his testimony. Rep. Mike Conaway, who is now leading the committee's probe into Russia's election meddling, did not respond to request for comment. A spokesman for Rep. Adam Schiff, the committee's ranking Democrat, declined to comment. Page also indicated that he prepared "extensive evidence" for the committee last weekend "per your recent request." It is unclear what kind of documents the House requested that Page hand over. But its Senate counterpart sent <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-russia-ties-trump-senate-intel-committee-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a letter to Page late last month</a> asking him to provide extensive information about any contact he had with Russian officials or representatives of Russian business interests between June 2015-January 2017.Page <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-trump-russia-senate-intelligence-committee-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">volunteered to be interviewed by the Senate Intelligence committee in March</a>. But he said earlier this month that the committee's requests were "groundless," "outrageous," and "would cover redundant, highly irrelevant information collected in further violation of my civil rights given the unjustified FISA warrants which already targeted me last year."The FBI obtained a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act last summer to monitor Page's communications, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-obtained-fisa-warrant-to-monitor-former-trump-adviser-carter-page/2017/04/11/620192ea-1e0e-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html?tid=ss_tw&amp;utm_term=.7148cnbsp1ca94b8">reported in April</a>. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/us/politics/carter-page-trump-russia.html">FBI reportedly is investigating</a> Page's trips to Moscow and contact with at least one Russian official last year. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-vladimir-putin-respond-comey-firing-hockey-game-fbi-cbs-video-politics-russia-investigation-2017-5">WATCH: Putin reacts to Trump firing FBI Director James Comey</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Carter Page says he will have his turn 'next month' to testify before Congress

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/590957b1fcd8eb64058b46e4-2400/gettyimages-543412494.jpg" alt="Sally Yates" />Pete Marovich/Getty Images)Sally Yates.Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates will testify at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing Monday about Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.Yates, who was fired from her position as acting attorney after refusing to enforce President Donald Trump's first immigration order in January, will be interviewed by the subcommittee on crime and terrorism about reports that she warned the White House in January about former national security adviser Michael Flynn's contact with Russia's ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak.Yates is expected to publicly confirm those reports for the first time - and deliver a rebuke to the Trump administration in the process. Trump, who asked for Flynn's resignation after reports surfaced that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Kislyak, has said he was not aware that Flynn had discussed the issue of US sanctions with the Russian ambassador. According to CNN, however, Yates plans to insist that she warned the White House about Flynn's conversations with Kislyak and how he was misleading Pence, and was therefore susceptible to Russian blackmail. Then the vice president-elect, Pence had insisted in an interview with CBS that Flynn and Kislyak "did not discuss anything having to do with the United States' decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia" - a statement that turned out to be untrue and set off alarm bells at the Justice Department.<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5909fb752ceae920008b4a20-1280/gettyimages-633345430.jpg" alt="Michael Flynn" />Win McNamee/Getty ImagesMichael FlynnYates reportedly told White House Counsel Don McGahn that she had "serious concerns" about Flynn. But he was not asked to resign until February 13, at least two weeks after Yates visited the White House. Interest in Yates' testimony grew even more last month after The Washington Post reported that the White House <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-sought-to-block-sally-yates-from-testifying-to-congress-on-russia/2017/03/28/82b73e18-13b4-11e7-9e4f-09aa75d3ec57_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had tried to prevent</a> her from testifying publicly. The White House has denied the charge, but it is unclear how much Yates will be able to publicly disclose due to restrictions imposed by the presidential communications privilege.Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper will also testify before the subcommittee, which is chaired by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham - a Russia hawk who has said that Flynn's request for immunity in exchange for testifying before the congressional intelligence committees about his Russia ties is "<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/michael-flynn-immunity-lindsey-graham-236828" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a bit bizarre.</a>""He's said in the past nobody asks for immunity unless they have committed a crime. I'm not so sure that's true - as a lawyer I know that always that is not true. But the whole situation is really strange," Graham told CNN last month.The House Oversight Committee's top-ranking Republican and Democrat - Reps. Jason Chaffetz and Elijah Cummings - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jason-chaffetz-michael-flynn-russia-turkey-2017-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in a joint press conference</a> on April 25 that Flynn appeared to have broken the law by not disclosing payments he received from Russia in his 2016 security clearance application. After news broke of Flynn's conversations with Kislyak, some questioned whether he may have violated the Logan Act - a 200-year-old law that bars private citizens from interfering with diplomatic relations between the United States and foreign governments."The bottom line is if there were any contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russian intelligence services that were inappropriate, I want to find out about it, and I want the whole world to know about it," Graham said.Clapper, meanwhile, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-clapper-no-evidence-of-collusion-between-trump-and-russia-890509379597">told MSNBC's Chuck Todd</a> in early March that he had seen "no evidence" of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Clapper and Yates have also been invited to testify before the House Intelligence Committee about Russia's election interference in an open hearing sometime this month. The hearing was originally scheduled for late March but was scrapped by the committee's chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes. Nunes has since <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/devin-nunes-house-intelligence-committee-russia-investigation-2017-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stepped aside</a> from the committee's investigation into Trump's ties to Russia. He handed the probe over to Rep. Mike Conaway in early April amid questions about his ability to lead an unbiased investigation. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/phone-call-oj-simpson-michael-eric-dyson-trial-race-2017-4">'OJ had me shook': A Georgetown professor reveals what it was like to talk to OJ Simpson after bashing him on national television</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Sally Yates is set to give bombshell testimony about Michael Flynn and Russia - here's what to expect

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58ddce7877bb70b0078b539f-2400/ap17081705917831.jpg" alt="devin nunes" data-mce-source="Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP" data-mce-caption="House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. pauses while meeting with reporters outside the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 22, 2017, following a meeting with President Donald Trump.">Pablo Martinez Monsivais/APHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. pauses while meeting with reporters outside the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 22, 2017, following a meeting with President Donald Trump.</img></div></div></div>House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/devin-nunes-house-intelligence-committee-russia-investigation-2017-4" target="_blank">temporarily stepped aside from the committee's probe</a> into Russia's interference in the US election and whether President Donald Trump's campaign team was involved. It comes as he has become the subject of an investigation himself.Nunes has been the subject of intense scrutiny for weeks following his decision to bypass the rest of his committee and brief Trump on classified executive-branch documents he said showed that members of Trump's transition team had been swept up in government surveillance.Nunes said repeatedly that he had no intention of stepping aside, despite <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-russia-nunes-comey-investigation-2017-3" target="_blank">questions about Nunes' ability</a> to lead an independent investigation <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-officials-helped-devin-nunes-get-access-2017-3" target="_blank">as reports</a> surfaced that he had obtained the documents from White House officials directly, despite his claims to the contrary.But he said in a statement on Thursday that he will allow Rep. Mike Conaway to lead the investigation while he waits for the House Ethics Committee to "look into" the complaints filed against him by "several leftwing activist groups."Those groups, Democracy 21 and CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/847978770954952704" target="_blank">requested that</a> the Office of Congressional Ethics investigate whether Nunes "publicly revealed classified information in violation of Rule 23, clause 13" when he told reporters last month that he had obtained information about "American intelligence monitoring foreign officials" who may have "incidentally picked up communications of Trump transition team members." Rule 23, clause 13 of the House Ethics handbook <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/publication/code-official-conduct" target="_blank">states that</a> "Before a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House may have access to classified information, the following oath (or affirmation) shall be executed: 'I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will not disclose any classified information received in the course of my service with the House of Representatives, except as authorized by the House of Representatives or in accordance with its Rules.'"Nunes acknowledged that the documents he had obtained, and on which he had briefed the press, were classified. But he insisted that he did not break any rules because he did not go into detail about the content of the intelligence reports.The House Intelligence Committee's probe into Trump and Russia <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-russia-nunes-comey-investigation-2017-3">had all but stalled</a> by the end of last month, with Nunes blaming Democrats - and vice versa - for the impasse. But Nunes was still refusing to step aside, even as the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, said it would be difficult, if not impossible, to conduct a "credible investigation" as long as Nunes refused to share the information he had obtained with the rest of the committee. "I'd love to get back on track, but I'm not willing to say something is legitimate if it's not," Schiff told CNN at the time, referring to the investigation's credibility with Nunes at the helm. On Thursday, Schiff told reporters that Nunes' recusal "is in the best interest of the investigation.""I think it will allow us to have a fresh start," he added. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-spicers-tense-exchange-reporter-april-ryan-alleged-white-house-scandals-russia-russian-dressing-2017-3">'Stop shaking your head again': Watch Spicer's tense exchange with a reporter over alleged White House scandals</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="I0anVqYTE6VqE9T4dlLwbntrWAkhWmXV" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'I0anVqYTE6VqE9T4dlLwbntrWAkhWmXV',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

This ethics complaint is apparently what drove Devin Nunes to finally step aside from the Trump-Russia probe

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/590d460e52b5d81c008b4e65-1408/ap17045857514615.jpg" alt="Michael Flynn" />AP Photo/Carolyn KasterMichael Flynn.The House Intelligence Committee issued seven subpoenas Wednesday as part of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, including subpoenas to former national security adviser Michael Flynn and President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen."As part of our ongoing investigation into Russian active measures during the 2016 campaign, today we approved subpoenas for several individuals for testimony, personal documents and business records," said Reps. Mike Conaway and Adam Schiff, the top Republican and Democrat involved in the investigation."We hope and expect that anyone called to testify or provide documents will comply with that request, so that we may gain all the information within the scope of our investigation. We will continue to pursue this investigation wherever the facts may lead," they said.Four of the seven subpoenas were related to the committee's probe into Russian interference in the election, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-intelligence-committee-said-to-have-issued-seven-subpoenas-in-russia-probe-1496261435?mod=djemalertNEWS" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to The Wall Street Journal</a>. Flynn's lobbying firm, Flynn Intel Group, was also subpoenaed, as was Cohen's firm, Michael D. Cohen &amp; Associates.Flynn was forced to resign when it was reported in February that he had spoken to the Russian ambassador about US sanctions and then misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts. Flynn reportedly plans to invoke <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-flynn-plead-5th-amendment-trump-russia-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">his Fifth Amendment rights</a> in response to a separate subpoena issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Cohen's subpoena comes after he declined a request to provide information and documents related to his contacts with Russian officials. Cohen <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/russia-investigation-expands-include-donald-trumps-personal-attorney/story?id=47646601" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told ABC</a> on Tuesday that he "declined the invitation to participate, as the request was poorly phrased, overly broad, and not capable of being answered." He <a href="https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/869599276963430400" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">later told CNN</a> that the lawmakers "have yet to produce one single piece of credible evidence that would corroborate the Russia narrative."<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58e2fae18af578e1008b60a9-1024/gettyimages-481587126.jpg" alt="Susan Rice" />Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesFormer national security adviser Susan Rice.The other three subpoenas relate to questions around why Obama administration officials "unmasked" and distributed the names of Trump associates in classified intelligence reports. The Journal reported that those subpoenas are seeking information related to unmasking requests made by former national security adviser Susan Rice, former CIA director John Brennan, and former United Nations ambassador Samantha Power. Unmasking requests are not uncommon, said Charles Price, a former FBI agent who worked at the bureau for nearly three decades. "They're really not that big a deal.""The identities of US persons may be released under two circumstances: 1) the identity is needed to make sense of the intercept; 2) if a crime is involved in the conversation," said Robert Deitz, a former senior counselor to the CIA director and former general counsel at the National Security Agency.The subpoenas related to unmasking requests were reportedly made by Republicans on the committee interested in examining whether the requests were politically motivated, The Journal reported. In April, it emerged that Rice <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/susan-rice-trump-unmask-intelligence-wiretap-2017-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tried to learn the identities</a> of Trump officials whose names were incidentally collected during routine intelligence-gathering operations. After news of Rice's request broke, she denied accusations that she had leaked the names of unmasked Trump officials to media outlets."I leaked nothing, to nobody, and never have and never would," <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/susan-rice-denies-leaking-names-of-trump-officials-in-intelligence-reports/2017/04/04/26997e56-1978-11e7-855e-4824bbb5d748_story.html?utm_term=.7030218e07c9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rice said</a>. <img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5919b6bae559f1bc588b4c8e-2400/gettyimages-677914102.jpg" alt="James Comey" />Zach Gibson/Getty ImagesJames Comey.The Trump-Russia investigations, both in relevant congressional committees and within the FBI, have picked up steam over the last few weeks, following Trump's decision to abruptly fire FBI Director James Comey,After Comey's dismissal and a number of explosive reports, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-mueller-trump-russia-intelligence-community-fbi-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller</a> as a special counsel in charge of the FBI's investigation. Last week, multiple reports said Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, spoke to the Russian ambassador about setting up a back channel of communications with Russia, using Russian facilities. News of his reported request indicated that the Russia investigation may reach the highest levels of Trump's White House. On Wednesday, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/31/politics/fbi-comey-testimony/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNN reported</a> that Comey plans to testify as early as next week, during which he is expected to confirm reports that Trump asked him to drop the FBI's investigation into Flynn during a February meeting. Experts say such a request could amount <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/can-trump-be-impeached-comey-memo-classified-info-russia-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to obstruction of justice</a>. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/greg-gianforte-apologizes-win-election-guardian-montanta-ben-jacobs-guardian-reporter-election-2017-5">Greg Gianforte apologizes for attacking a reporter after winning his Congressional election</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

The House Intelligence Committee just issued its first subpoenas in the Trump-Russia probe

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/591e301d34911b28008b4e24-2400/ap17083542265051.jpg" alt="Devin Nunes" data-mce-source="J. Scott Applewhite/AP" data-mce-caption="House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 24, 2017. Nunes said Friday that Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman for President Donald Trump, volunteered to be interviewed by committee members.">J. Scott Applewhite/APHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 24, 2017.</img></div></div></div>The cofounders of the opposition research firm&#xa0;that produced the dossier <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/christopher-steele-trump-dossier-russia-timeline-2017-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">alleging ties between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia</a> will invoke constitutional privileges and decline to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, their attorney wrote in a letter obtained by Business Insider on Monday."We cannot in good conscience do anything but advise our clients to stand on their constitutional privileges, the attorney work product doctrine and contractual obligations," wrote Fusion GPS counsel Josh Levy in response to subpoenas issued earlier this month by the committee's chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes.&#xa0;Levy argued that complying with the subpoenas would violate "the First Amendment rights" of the cofounders - Glenn Simpson,&#xa0;Thomas Catan, and Peter Fritsch - "and would chill any American running for office ...&#xa0;from conducting confidential opposition research in an election."&#xa0;"Should you compel any of our three clients to appear at the scheduled deposition, they will invoke their constitutional privileges not to testify," Levy wrote. "Since that will be the case, we ask that the Committee excuse them from appearing."Nunes&#xa0;stepped aside from the committee's Russia investigation in early April following his decision to brief Trump and the press on classified intelligence - without telling his fellow committee members. But he quickly began <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nunes-russia-investigation-subpoenas-fusion-gps-trump-2017-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conducting&#xa0;his own&#xa0;investigation</a>&#xa0;into&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/devin-nunes-approved-requests-for-unmaskings-democrats-say-hes-gone-rogue-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">"unmaskings"</a>&#xa0;by the Obama administration&#xa0;and the&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/devin-nunes-jeff-sessions-fbi-chris-wray-trump-russia-dossier-2017-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">credibility of the dossier.</a> Levy contended in the letter that Nunes'&#xa0;"unilateral issuance of these subpoenas violates your recusal and further undermines the legitimacy of this investigation." He pointed to the fact that Nunes had issued the subpoenas just 24 hours after Fusion's counsel met with "majority and minority staff" for approximately an hour to discuss "a way forward for voluntary cooperation.""Based on this Committee's bad faith interactions with the undersigned counsel and its pattern of unprofessional conduct exhibited during different points throughout this investigation, you have left us with no choice but to advise our clients to assert their privileges in the face of these subpoenas," Levy wrote.Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti&#xa0;said&#xa0;the First Amendment argument, while "novel," seemed "unlikely to succeed.""That is probably why the attorneys have emphasized other arguments, like Nunes' apparent lack of&#xa0;authority to&#xa0;issue the subpoenas and the fact that Congress didn't authorize the investigation he's conducting on his own," Mariotti said."Those arguments have more merit, and they draw attention to&#xa0;Nunes' bizarre behavior&#xa0;over the past month - including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/devin-nunes-jeff-sessions-fbi-chris-wray-trump-russia-dossier-2017-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">his subpoenas to the DOJ</a>," he added.&#xa0;"That said, if the subpoenas issued by Nunes are valid, then I expect these individuals will be held in contempt if they refuse to testify as ordered."Republican Rep. Mike Conaway, who is now heading the committee's investigation, reportedly&#xa0;approved Nunes' subpoenas to Fusion GPS, but House Intelligence Democrats&#xa0;have indicated that they were not consulted.Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/eric-swalwell-says-paul-ryan-should-intervene-against-devin-nunes-2017-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told Business Insider last week</a> that "the only person who can intervene" to preserve the credibility of the committee's Russia investigation amid Nunes' recent&#xa0;antics is House Speaker Paul Ryan."If Speaker Ryan wants a credible investigation to come out of the House Intelligence Committee,&#xa0;he'll do everything he can to make sure&#xa0;Devin Nunes' fingerprints are not on our report," Swalwell&#xa0;said in an interview.The Senate Judiciary Committee interviewed Glenn Simpson&#xa0;behind closed doors over the summer for roughly 10 hours. The committee is currently debating whether or not to release the transcript from the interview. Fusion GPS has been cooperating with the Senate Intelligence Committee since July,&#xa0;Levy wrote.<h3>Read the full letter below:</h3>&#xa0;<div><p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View 2017.10.16 Letter to Chair D. Nunes on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/361738857/2017-10-16-Letter-to-Chair-D-Nunes#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">2017.10.16 Letter to Chair D. Nunes</a> by <a title="View natasha's profile on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/user/346887332/natasha#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">natasha</a> on Scribd<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" title="2017.10.16 Letter to Chair D. Nunes" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/361738857/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;access_key=key-NNtzKC4VC5GZsar4DzBE&amp;show_recommendations=true" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="0.7729220222793488" scrolling="no" id="doc_16190" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/salamander-change-american-politics-gerrymandering-electoral-districts-obama-election-governor-politics-2017-6">The Supreme Court will hear a landmark case on gerrymandering - here's how the political tactic changed the US forever</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/RJruBsEN-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

The founders of the firm behind the Trump-Russia dossier say they'll refuse to testify before the House Intelligence Committee

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59a731e15124c9ff65ecafbe-800/in-call-with-saudi-king-trump-urges-end-to-qatar-dispute-white-house-2017-8.jpg" alt="U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in Springfield, Missouri, U.S., August 30, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="U.S. President Trump speaks about tax reform during a visit to Loren Cook Company in Springfield" />Thomson ReutersU.S. President Trump speaks about tax reform during a visit to Loren Cook Company in Springfield</div></div></div>A top Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee says the committee wants to examine any documentation related to President Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey in May, including a letter the president wrote at the time outlining his reasons for wanting Comey gone."We want to see anything memorialized around" the firing, Rep. Eric Swalwell told Business Insider when asked if the committee wants to see a copy of the letter. Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN on Sunday that the committee had not yet seen the letter. But he said "it's probably past time for our committee to subpoena the White House to make sure we get all relevant documents."Schiff's Republican counterpart, Mike Conaway, who took over committee's Russia investigation after Rep. Devin Nunes stepped aside in April, did not respond to request for comment.The letter, obtained by FBI special counsel Robert Mueller shortly after it was written, is significant because it provides a snapshot of the president's state of mind before he fired Comey. In that sense, it could be instructive in determining whether Trump fired Comey because he thought he was truly unfit to lead the FBI, or if he dismissed him in the hopes that the Russia probe - which Comey was leading at the time - would go away. According to White House special counsel Ty Cobb, Trump decided he wanted Comey gone shortly after he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 3. Comey reiterated during that public appearance that some of Trump's associates were still under investigation, and he said it made him "mildly nauseous" to think that his handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe "might have had some impact on the election."Comey had not allowed the White House to review his testimony, which Trump and his aides considered "an act of insubordination," <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-comey-decision-idUSKBN1862WP" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to Reuters</a>. The Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/us/politics/how-trump-decided-to-fire-james-comey.html?smid=tw-share&amp;_r=0">echoed that report</a>, saying Trump was broadly irked by his inability to gain assurances of loyalty from Comey. Reports have also suggested that Trump was annoyed with Comey for implying that the election was somehow swayed by the director's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/us/politics/james-comey-election.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">controversial decision</a> to tell Congress that he was reexamining Clinton's emails 11 days before the election. As such, Trump wrote a letter with one of his top policy advisers, Stephen Miller, outlining why he thought Comey was unfit to lead the FBI and expressing frustration with the fact that Comey would not confirm publicly that he was not under investigation. Cobb told Business Insider last weekend that there was "little if any pushback" from within the White House to the president's "memorandum," which he described as "exonerating." But the letter - described as a "rant" by the Washington Post and a "screed" by the New York Times - was never released, and White House counsel Don McGahn was reportedly alarmed when it was presented to him. McGahn heavily edited it and sent it back to Miller, according to the Times, and it was then sent over to the DOJ.The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/01/us/politics/trump-comey-firing-letter.html">advice McGahn gave to Trump</a> may prove pivotal in the obstruction of justice case that FBI special counsel Robert Mueller <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/special-counsel-is-investigating-trump-for-possible-obstruction-of-justice/2017/06/14/9ce02506-5131-11e7-b064-828ba60fbb98_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_no-name%3Apage%2Fbreaking-news-bar&amp;tid=a_breakingnews&amp;utm_term=.95b902b69a3c" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">is reportedly building</a> against the president. Cobb told BI that the White House gave Mueller the letter voluntarily, but did not clarify whether they handed over the original, unedited version or the one marked up by McGahn.Trump's legal team has sought to fend off a potential obstruction charge by arguing that the president has the authority to fire whomever he wants and that Comey is an unreliable witness, according to the Wall Street Journal.But someone in Trump's orbit - if not McGahn, then someone else with sway over the president - was clearly not confident that the president's rationale for firing Comey could stand on its own. The letter was never sent, and Trump instead wrote a short addendum to memos written by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein outlining Comey's purported missteps. Neither of the memos mentioned the Russia investigation. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-where-the-most-hate-crimes-occur-in-the-us-politics-racism-kkk-white-supremacist-2017-8">Here's where the most hate crimes occur in the US - it's not where you think</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/dqvyvP4M-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

Congressional investigators are homing in on Trump's Comey letter

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a6fb2e259d4321c008b484d-1190/devinnunessmall.jpg" alt="devin nunes" data-mce-source="J. Scott Applewhite/AP" data-mce-caption="House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes." />J. Scott Applewhite/APHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes.</div></div></div><ul><li>House Intelligence Committee Republicans have voted to release a controversial secret memo that accuses the Justice Department and the FBI of improper spying amid the Russia probe.</li><li>The memo alleges that officials at the DOJ and FBI did not disclose that the Russia dossier that was used to obtain a FISA court warrant to spy on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page had been partially funded by a lawyer linked to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign.</li><li>The DOJ previously warned that releasing the classified memo would be "extraordinarily reckless," while the White House indicated that it wanted the document to be made public.</li></ul><hr /> House Intelligence Committee Republicans have voted to release a controversial secret memo that accuses the Justice Department and the FBI of improper spying amid the Russia probe.The memo points to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant obtained for surveillance against the former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee allege that FBI and DOJ officials failed to disclose that the Russia dossier used to obtain that warrant was partially funded by a lawyer linked to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.Broadly, the vote indicates that Republicans on the committee view the use of the dossier to dig deeper into Page as evidence of bias against President Donald Trump.Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who was appointed by Trump, later authorized further surveillance of Page.Trump has five days to decide whether to make the memo public. The Justice Department has said such a move would be "extraordinarily reckless."Privately, Trump has been fuming over the Justice Department's opposition to releasing the memo, according to an administration official not authorized to discuss private conversations and speaking on condition of anonymity.At the behest of Trump, White House chief of staff John Kelly and other White House officials have been in contact with Justice Department officials in the past week to convey the president's displeasure with the department's leadership on the issue specifically, the official said. In a series of calls last week, Kelly urged the Justice officials to do more within the bounds of the law to get the memo out, the official said.In the hours before Monday's vote, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders underscored the administration's position, saying Trump favors "full transparency."The panel could release the information five days after the vote if Trump doesn't object.Democrats are livid about the memo, which they say omits crucial facts and should not be selectively released. They have pushed back on Republican criticism of the FBI, saying it is an attempt to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and whether Trump's campaign was involved. The probe has already resulted in charges against four of Trump's former campaign advisers and has recently moved closer to Trump's inner circle.The top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, California Rep. Adam Schiff, said last week that Democrats on the panel had put together their own memo.On Monday, the committee voted to make the Democratic memo available to all House members - but not the public. Texas Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, who's leading the House's Russia investigation, said he was open to making it public after House members have a chance to review it.Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote Nunes that given the panel's role in overseeing the nation's intelligence community, "you well understand the damaging impact that the release of classified material could have on our national security and our ability to share and receive sensitive information from friendly foreign governments."Some senators have expressed concern about the release as well. But John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican and a member of that chamber's intelligence committee, said last week that Nunes and the Justice Department need to work out their differences. On Sunday, Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina both said they don't think the memo should be released."No, I don't want it released yet," Graham said on ABC's "This Week." ''I don't. I want somebody who is without a political bias to come in and look at the allegations that I have seen."The fate of the memo is the latest flashpoint in the contentious relationship between Trump and the Justice Department.Trump has frequently raged at the head of the department, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the Russia probe, a move the president believes led to the appointment of Mueller. Trump has bemoaned, both privately and publicly, that Sessions and his department have not shown him the "loyalty" that former attorneys general Eric Holder and Robert Kennedy showed their presidents. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/president-trump-theresa-may-davos-false-rumour-2018-1">President Trump tells Theresa May not to believe the 'false rumour' that he doesn't 'have great respect for everything you're doing'</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/gRVAvL1d-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

House Intel Committee Republicans vote to release secret memo in a move that the DOJ said would be 'extraordinarily reckless'

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a28c02ef914c31f008b87f1-2000/devinnunessmall.jpg" alt="devin nunes" data-mce-source="J. Scott Applewhite/AP" data-mce-caption="House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes.">J. Scott Applewhite/APHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes.</img></div></div></div><ul><li>A new court document filed by opposition research firm Fusion GPS shed new light on the extent to which Republican Rep. Devin Nunes still controls the House Intelligence Committee's subpoena power.</li><li>Nunes technically stepped aside from the Russia probe in April but has remained active.</li><li>The document notes that the only financial institution the committee has subpoenaed this year is Fusion's bank, even though the committee's Democrats have called on the majority to issue a subpoena for Deutsche Bank.</li><li>Nunes has spearheaded the charge against Fusion, which helped produce the now-famous Trump-Russia dossier during the 2016 election.&#xa0;</li></ul><hr> The House Intelligence Committee has only issued one subpoena to a financial institution in the 11 months since it opened its investigation into Russia's election interference and potential collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Moscow.The subpoena wasn't to Deutsche Bank - which was fined last year over its involvement in a major Russian money-laundering scheme and has been the Trump family's bank of choice for decades. Rather, the subpoena was delivered to the primary bank for the Washington, DC-based opposition research firm Fusion GPS.&#xa0;Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, the committee's chairman, has spearheaded the investigation into who paid Fusion during the 2016 election.The law firm Perkins Cole, which represented Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, confirmed in October that it hired Fusion in April 2016 to help research Trump's ties to Russia. That research was done primarily by former British spy Christopher Steele, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-congressional-testimony-transcript-steele-dossier-2017-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who wrote the now-famous dossier</a> outlining an alleged Trump campaign conspiracy with Russia to sway the election.Around the same time it was digging up dirt on Trump, however, Fusion was also working for the law firm BakerHostetler on behalf of Prevezon -&#xa0;a real-estate company incorporated in Cyprus and owned by a prominent Russian businessman, Denis Katsyv.BakerHostetler was representing Prevezon in the US as part of civil asset-forfeiture and money-laundering case first brought against the firm in New York several years ago. Fusion was hired by BakerHostetler to dig up dirt on Bill Browder, an American investor whose Russian lawyer uncovered a massive Kremlin-backed tax fraud scheme that Prevezon was allegedly involved in.&#xa0;Fusion's work for a law firm that represented a Russian client - BakerHostetler - and a law firm that represented Democratic clients - Perkins Coie - at virtually the same time appears to have given House and Senate Republicans fodder to conflate the two projects.&#xa0;Trump and other Republicans have alleged that Fusion was paid by Russians to research Trump's ties to Russia.To that end, Nunes subpoenaed Fusion's bank records earlier this year to get a glimpse at its clients. The firm is currently fighting the subpoena in court, and has issued a series of filings arguing that Nunes' requests are politically motivated.&#xa0;A spokesman for Nunes did not respond to a request for comment.&#xa0;<h2>'They are ignoring a major national security issue'</h2>As evidence of this purported bias,&#xa0;Fusion's lawyers said Monday that Fusion's bank is the only financial institution that the committee has subpoenaed this year. It is still unclear whether committee Republicans even knew about Nunes' subpoenas to Fusion, which included requests for documents and interviews. Committee Democrats have said they were left in the dark entirely."They are ignoring a major national security issue and instead abusing the subpoena power to punish the company that helped expose it," Fusion's lawyer, Theodore&#xa0;Boutrous Jr., told Business Insider on Tuesday.A Democratic committee source said Fusion's claim about the subpoenas was accurate."Yes, as far as we are aware, that is the only bank to be subpoenaed," the person said. The person added that the committee's ranking member, Rep. Adam Schiff, "has publicly called for the committee to subpoena Deutsche Bank as part of the investigation."A spokeswoman for Republican Rep. Mike Conaway, who is leading the House Russia probe, did not respond to a request for comment.&#xa0;Schiff's call for a Deutsche Bank subpoena came shortly after <keyword id="6355005" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="News">news</keyword> surfaced that special counsel Robert Mueller had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-deutsche-bank-mueller-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subpoenaed the Deutsche Bank records of various unnamed Trump associates</a>.&#xa0;"Months ago, we requested that the majority on our Committee subpoena Deutsche Bank for records," Schiff said in a statement earlier this month. "The Majority's refusal to do so, despite our repeated requests, and their decision instead to move immediately to subpoena another bank in order to acquire Fusion GPS' bank records...demonstrate a troubling double-standard."&#xa0;<h2>Read Fusion's latest court filing below:</h2>&#xa0; <script src="//load.sumome.com/" data-sumo-site-id="ad2d02bb34b81e60382fbf1fd2c2e4d9230918d0b8ccae68c9d7bac17d286fa5" async="async"></script><div><p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View Fusion filing 12/18 on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/367549569/Fusion-filing-12-18#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">Fusion filing 12/18</a> by <a title="View natasha's profile on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/user/346887332/natasha#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">natasha</a> on Scribd<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" title="Fusion filing 12/18" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/367549569/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;access_key=key-OYyLG7OBzojYow0zwQ8p&amp;show_recommendations=true" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="0.7729220222793488" scrolling="no" id="doc_55200" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/influence-norman-vincent-peale-book-power-positive-donald-trump-2017-1">Trump's family church explains why he refuses to accept failure</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/MKz2pcbl-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div></hr>

We just got a big reminder of how much Devin Nunes still controls the House's Russia probe

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58e2fae18af578e1008b60a9-1024/gettyimages-481587126.jpg" alt="Susan Rice" data-mce-source="Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Former national security adviser Susan Rice." />Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesFormer national security adviser Susan Rice.</div></div></div>Former national security adviser Susan Rice told the House Intelligence Committee that she "unmasked" the names of President Donald Trump's associates because she wanted to find out why the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates visited Trump Tower in New York last year without notifying the US government, CNN <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/13/politics/susan-rice-house-investigators-unmasked-trump-officials/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> on Wednesday. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, UAE's crown prince, traveled to New York during the transition period in December 2016 and reportedly met with former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. According to CNN, the Obama administration felt "misled" by the UAE, which was why Rice requested that Trump associates' names be unmasked. A senior Middle East official acknowledged to CNN that the UAE did not inform the US of the crown prince's visit in advance but denied that the UAE had misled the Obama administration. The official said that the December Trump Tower meeting was merely part of an effort to build a relationship with the incoming administration. The crown prince's trip to New York came shortly before the UAE brokered a January 11 meeting between a Trump associate and a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin in the Seychelles islands to create a back channel of communication between Trump and Russia. UAE officials reportedly facilitated the meeting in the hopes of encouraging Russia to distance itself from Iran, a major Kremlin ally. The Trump administration has often expressed its skepticism of Iran, and Trump on the campaign trail frequently derided the 2015 nuclear deal Iran reached with the US and five world powers. <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">News</keyword> of Rice's unmasking request first emerged in April, when <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-03/top-obama-adviser-sought-names-of-trump-associates-in-intel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg reported</a> that Rice had tried to learn the identities of several Trump transition team members whose communications with foreign officials were picked up as part of the US' routine intelligence-gathering operations. According to Bloomberg, documents showing that Rice made the unmasking requests were uncovered by the National Security Council's former senior director for intelligence, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who was fired by national security adviser H.R. McMaster in July. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-officials-helped-devin-nunes-get-access-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cohen-Watnick was involved</a> in providing documents related to the incidental surveillance of members of Trump's transition team to House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes in March. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58ddce7877bb70b0078b539f-2400/ap17081705917831.jpg" alt="devin nunes" data-mce-source="Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP" data-mce-caption="House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. pauses while meeting with reporters outside the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 22, 2017, following a meeting with President Donald Trump." />Pablo Martinez Monsivais/APHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. pauses while meeting with reporters outside the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 22, 2017, following a meeting with President Donald Trump.</div></div></div>Although Nunes recused himself from his committee's investigation, he <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-subpoenas/dispute-erupts-over-house-panel-subpoenas-for-cia-fbi-idUSKBN18R33X" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">subpoenaed</a> the National Security Agency, the CIA, and the FBI in May - without telling his Democratic colleagues - for intelligence documents containing details of any unmasking requests made by Obama administration officials and the former CIA director to learn the names of Trump associates who communicated with foreign officials. Trump and his allies have painted Rice's unmasking requests as inappropriate and political in nature, but Rice <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/susan-rice-unmasking-trump-associates-leaks-2017-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told NBC's Andrea Mitchell</a> in April that allegations she unmasked Trump associates for political reasons were "absolutely false."Further, national security experts agree that Rice's reported requests to identify which Trump associates were speaking with foreign officials before he was inaugurated were neither unusual nor against the law. "The identities of US persons may be released under two circumstances: 1) the identity is needed to make sense of the intercept; 2) if a crime is involved in the conversation," Robert Deitz, a former senior counselor to the CIA director and former general counsel at the National Security Agency, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/susan-rice-trump-unmask-intelligence-wiretap-2017-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told Business Insider</a> in an earlier interview.Members of the House Intelligence Committee appear to concur with that assessment."I didn't hear anything to believe that she did anything illegal," Republican Florida Rep. Tom Rooney told CNN of Rice's testimony. South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, who is one of the lawmakers spearheading the House investigation, told the Daily Caller "nothing that came up in her interview that led me to conclude" that she made inappropriate unmasking requests. "She was a good witness, answered all our questions," Rep. Mike Conaway, the Texas Republican who took over leading the House Russia investigation after Nunes stepped down, told CNN. "I'm not aware of any reason to bring her back."Natasha Bertrand contributed reporting. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-touts-1986-tax-law-called-same-law-disaster-1991-video-footage-joan-rivers-2017-8">Trump touts the 1986 US tax reform law as 'something special' - here's footage of him calling it a 'disaster' in 1991</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/uwYNtWv6-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

We now know why Susan Rice requested to 'unmask' the names of Trump associates

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a7352481072901d008b4aeb-1990/ap17094547841682.jpg" alt="Devin Nunes" data-mce-source="J. Scott Applewhite/AP" data-mce-caption="House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., waves as he arrives for a closed-door GOP strategy session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 4, 2017." />J. Scott Applewhite/APHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes.</div></div></div><ul><li>The White House is expected to release a classified GOP memo Thursday.</li><li>The memo has been a source of controversy for weeks among lawmakers in Washington.</li><li>It reportedly outlines bias against President Donald Trump at the FBI and the Justice Department. </li></ul><hr /> A classified memorandum that Republicans say exposes corruption at the FBI and the Department of Justice has been the subject of a fiery debate in Washington.The controversy over what is actually alleged in the memo - and whether it should be released to the public - has put Democrats, Republicans, and top officials at the FBI and the DOJ at odds in an unprecedented showdown.It could come to a head Thursday as the White House is expected to make the document public, a Trump administration official <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia/disregarding-fbi-white-house-to-release-republican-memo-official-idUSKBN1FL5KF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Reuters</a>.Here's what you should know about the memo:<h2>Why was it drafted?</h2>The memo is a four-page document that contains classified information culled together by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes and his aides. Nunes is the chair of the House Intelligence Committee. The memo was drafted as part of a Republican-led investigation into potential bias and corruption among federal law enforcement officials prejudiced against President Donald Trump.The House Intelligence Committee conducted the investigation alongside a separate investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Nunes, who is close to Trump, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/erik-prince-testimony-house-intel-committee-devin-nunes-russia-probe-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recused himself</a> from the Russia probe last April amid an ethics investigation into allegations that he may have illegally disclosed classified information to White House officials.<h2>What does it say?</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a7352d285cdd450008b47b4-1776/rodrosensteinsmal.jpg" alt="rod rosenstein" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Joshua Roberts" data-mce-caption="Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testifies to the House Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Justice Department on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2017." />REUTERS/Joshua RobertsDeputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.</div></div></div>The memo <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/house-intel-republicans-vote-to-release-secret-memo-on-russia-probe-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> accuses top officials at the FBI and the DOJ, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, of misleading a federal judge to extend secret surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, during the 2016 election.The memo allegedly says the request for extended surveillance authority was based on the Trump-Russia dossier - an unsubstantiated report funded by Democrats - that accused Trump of conspiring with Russia to sway the 2016 election.The memo reportedly says that FBI and DOJ officials failed to tell the federal judge that the Trump-Russia dossier was compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with questionable ties to Democrats.By leaving this information out of their formal surveillance request, the memo suggests that FBI and DOJ officials relied on politically motivated sources to justify continued spying on Page, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-sought-release-of-classified-russia-memo-putting-him-at-odds-with-justice-department/2018/01/27/a00f2a4c-02bb-11e8-9d31-d72cf78dbeee_story.html?utm_term=.3197c5d35249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post reported</a>.Those are the claims that have been reported to be in the memo. The public won't know what's actually in it until it's released.<h2>What do Republicans think?</h2>Earlier this month, House members were granted special access to view the memo for themselves."What I saw is absolutely shocking," North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMarkMeadows/status/954199802790768644" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a tweet</a>. "This report needs to be released - now. Americans deserve the truth."Rep. Matt Gaetz <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/01/23/i-believe-there-are-people-who-will-go-to-jail/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">predicted</a> that the memo's revelations would not just result in firings, but that "there are people who will go to jail." Iowa <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveKingIA/status/954194729511636992" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rep. Steve King said</a> it was "worse than Watergate."House Speaker Paul Ryan joined the fray as well."I think we should disclose all this stuff. It's the best disinfectant - accountability, transparency, for the sake of the reputation of our institutions," <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-ryan-wants-fbi-cleanse-gop-memo-release-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he said on Tuesday</a>.As Republicans' concerns increased, the Twitter hashtag #<a href="https://www.hannity.com/media-room/release-the-memo-fbi-has-grave-concerns-over-releasing-fisa-memo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ReleaseTheMemo</a> started trending on social media, pressuring Trump to authorize disclosure. Conservative pundits like Sean Hannity on Fox <keyword id="6355005" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="News">News</keyword> led the charge.Republicans backing public release believe the memo, at its core, will expose anti-Trump bias, even corruption, at the highest levels of the FBI and the DOJ.But a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2018/02/01/politics/nunes-memo-donald-trump/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN report</a> Thursday said Trump privately tells friends and colleagues at the White House that disclosing the memo would make it easier for him to discredit the special counsel's probe.Robert Mueller is investigating the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia to influence the 2016 election, and whether Trump obstructed justice during the course of that investigation. The memo controversy erupted as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-lawyer-strategy-to-block-mueller-interview-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mueller's investigation heated up</a>, as he appears to be closing in on Trump.Some Republicans, including Reps. Peter King and Mike Conaway, <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/19/house-republicans-clash-release-the-memo-351132" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cautioned their colleagues</a> against publicly releasing the memo for fear that it would be "dangerous" to disclose classified national security information that is not fully reviewed, sourced, and at least partially redacted.<h2>What do Democrats think?</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a73530385cdd447008b47b4-2400/rtx315uz.jpg" alt="Adam Schiff Devin Nunes" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein" data-mce-caption="House Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Ranking Member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) speak with the media about the ongoing Russia investigation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 15, 2017." />REUTERS/Aaron P. BernsteinReps Nunes (right) and Adam Schiff.</div></div></div>Democrats who have seen the memo dispute the way Republicans have characterized it.Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, described the memo as "highly misleading.""This represents another effort to distract from the Russia probe and undermine the Special Counsel," Schiff <a href="https://democrats-intelligence.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=340" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a statement</a>. "With this latest gambit, however, the Majority seeks to selectively and misleadingly characterize classified information in an effort to protect the President at any cost."Democrats also <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/democrats-draft-memo-defending-fbi-and-doj-from-republican-attacks-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced a memo</a> of their own to members of the House in order to counter the Republican version. Schiff said it shows how the GOP "distorts the work of the FBI and the Department of Justice."In a last-ditch effort to stop the memo from going public, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Ryan on Thursday, imploring the House Speaker to remove Nunes from his position as chairman and "put an end to this charade."Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer joined Pelosi in calling for Nunes' removal, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-schumer/democrat-schumer-demands-nunes-ouster-from-u-s-house-intelligence-panel-idUSKBN1FL613" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters reported</a>. Their statements came after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/release-the-memo-devin-nunes-accused-of-altering-gop-memo-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Schiff accused Nunes</a> of making unauthorized material changes to the memo before Trump saw it.<h2>What do the FBI and DOJ say?</h2>Both law enforcement agencies <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-doj-oppose-releasing-classified-memo-trump-hints-he-supports-it-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strongly oppose</a> releasing the memo, citing significant inaccuracies and the potential for classified information to be compromised.On Wednesday, the FBI made a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-warns-against-releasing-devin-nunes-memo-2018-1?r=UK&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rare public statement</a> against the House Intelligence Committee's decision to disclose the memo, citing "grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."Over the weekend, FBI Director Christopher Wray met with Nunes to review the document, but described the meeting as only a "limited" viewing.Despite pushback from top law enforcement, Trump has hinted that he still wants the memo to get out.In response to a question about whether he would approve disclosure after the State of the Union address Tuesday night, Trump said, "Oh, yeah, don't worry, 100%." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/president-trump-theresa-may-davos-false-rumour-2018-1">President Trump tells Theresa May not to believe the 'false rumour' that he doesn't 'have great respect for everything you're doing'</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/gRVAvL1d-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

The controversial GOP memo that has taken Washington by storm is about to be released - here's what it is

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58b06a8301fe5818378b4b75-1280" alt="Vladimir Putin" />Adam Berry/Getty ImagesRussian president Vladimir PutinA high-level official at the Department of Justice tasked with investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election has announced that she will leave the DOJ in May, leaving a key position in the department's National Security Division unfilled as President Donald Trump's political appointees await confirmation in the Senate.Mary McCord, the acting assistant attorney general of the division, did not provide a reason when she told her staff that she would be leaving in May, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/04/20/524905899/leader-of-justice-department-national-security-division-on-the-way-out?live=1" target="_blank">according to NPR</a>. She said "the time is now right for me to pursue new career opportunities."McCord's departure has raised questions about the future of the Trump-Russia probe, which will be in the hands of Trump's deputy attorney general nominee, Rod Rosenstein, if and when he is confirmed. Attorney General Jeff Sessions <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-sessions-press-conference-russia-2017-3" target="_blank">recused himself from Trump campaign-related investigations</a> last month amid revelations that he failed to disclose two meetings he had with Russia's ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, in 2016."This just highlights how important it is that the Russia investigation be handled by an independent prosecutor," said Matt Miller, a former DOJ spokesman under the Obama administration. "Once Rod Rosenstein is confirmed, the investigation will be in the hands of someone who interacts with people in the White House on a daily basis, and that's just not tenable. It's even harder with the career official who has been handling it leaving the department."When asked during his confirmation hearing last month if he would select a special prosecutor to oversee the Russia probe, Rosenstein replied that he was "not in a position to answer."<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58f8e47a5124c98c14ffe7dd-800" alt="U.S. President Donald Trump (R) speaks next to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during a bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping (Not Pictured) at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 7, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria " />Thomson ReutersU.S. President Trump speaks next to Tillerson during bilateral meeting with China's President Xi at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach"I view it as an issue of principle that as a nominee for deputy attorney general, I should not be promising to take action on a particular case," Rosenstein said. "I believe that if I were to do this in this case, some future deputy attorney general nominee would be … asked to make a similar commitment, and they'd say, 'Rosenstein did it, why won't you?'"Rosenstein added that he had not yet read the intelligence community's report on Russia's election interference and only knew what he had seen in media reports.Democrats concerned about Rosenstein's ability to lead an unbiased investigation into the Trump campaign's ties with Moscow vowed to block his confirmation if he did not commit to appointing a special counsel."I'll use every possible tool to block DOJ Deputy AG nominee [Rosenstein] unless he commits to appoint independent special prosecutor," Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal <a href="https://twitter.com/SenBlumenthal/status/838524104693145601" target="_blank">tweeted at the time.</a>(As lawyer Paul Rosenzweig <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/special-counsel-not-special-prosecutor" target="_blank">has written</a>, however, the correct term is "special counsel," not "special prosecutor.")In any case, with McCord gone and Rosenstein set to take over, calls are growing louder for an independent counsel to oversee the criminal investigation into Russia's election interference and the Trump campaign's possible role in it. (The FBI's intelligence activities are overseen by the Director of National Intelligence.)"The final step would be for the Attorney General to select to lead the inquiry a prominent Republican - perhaps one who is not affiliated with the #NeverTrump wing of the party," Rosenzweig wrote on Lawfare. "We might also consider convening a special grand jury, which could provide the American public with a report on its investigation.""The ideal preference, of course, would be for this all to run in parallel with a Congressional investigation," he added, "but that may be too much to ask for."The congressional intelligence committees' respective probes into Russian meddling and who knew about it have been slow-going. The House Intelligence Committee's chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, stepped aside earlier this month amid questions about his ability to lead an independent investigation into Trump's Russia ties. Republican Rep. Mike Conaway is set to take over for Nunes, but <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-conaway-trump-russia-devin-nunes-2017-4" target="_blank">he has cast doubt</a> on the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia interfered in the election to help Trump win. An open hearing featuring testimony from former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sally-yates-trump-russia-testimony-senate-intelligence-committee-2017-3" target="_blank">was scrapped by Nunes</a> late last month and hasn't been rescheduled. Yates warned the administration in January that Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, could be subject to Russian blackmail, The Washington Post reported in February. Brennan, for his part, reportedly established a counterintelligence task force last summer to examine reports of improper contact between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/british-spy-agency-trump-russia-ties-2017-4" target="_blank">handed to the CIA by foreign intelligence agencies</a>. The Senate Intelligence Committee, meanwhile, held its first open hearing on Russian meddling late last month, and <a href="https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/hearings" target="_blank">has not yet scheduled</a> any more open hearings related to its Russia investigation. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-trump-walk-executive-order-signing-ceremony-without-signing-orders-2017-3">Watch Trump walk out of an executive-order signing ceremony without signing any orders</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

The Trump-Russia probe is about to face a brand new challenge

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58ca71436ff8012a008b5398-1500" alt="Vladimir Putin" />Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via APRussian President Vladimir Putin listens during a senior prosecutors meeting in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 14, 2017.A national security expert who has worked as a double agent for the FBI against Russian intelligence operations says that the bureau's current model for identifying Russian assets relies too much on a Cold War-era style of human asset-recruitment.Naveed Jamali, who secretly reported to the FBI for four years while pretending to work for a Russian spy, was invited by Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell to brief the House Intelligence Committee last week on Russia's techniques for recruiting foreign spies.Republican members of the committee did not attend the briefing, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/05/house-intelligence-republicans-boycott-briefing-from-fbi-s-russian-double-agent.html" target="_blank">Swalwell told the Daily Beast</a>. He did not say how many Democrats attended, however, and did not immediately respond to request for comment from Business Insider. But Swalwell told the Beast that Jamali's presentation offered a nonpartisan look at how the Kremlin recruits intelligence assets in the US and elsewhere. Jamali, who is now a senior fellow in the Program on National Security at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told Business Insider that his goal was to emphasize to lawmakers "the threat that Russia continues to pose" to US national security."I did so by highlighting my own experiences working with both the Russians and the FBI," Jamali said in an interview. "I said that I see echoes of what the Russians did with me between 2005-2009 - in terms of targeting and recruiting intelligence assets - with what occurred throughout 2016."The former spy said he is worried that the FBI is still playing catch-up when it comes to identifying Russian assets."Recruiting human assets is a very important part of Russian intelligence operations, but it's changed dramatically," Jamali said. "During the Cold War they were more interested in recruiting American military or intelligence officers to spy for them. But what I found is that the focus has shifted to recruiting decision-makers and gaining legitimate access to businesses."<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/584ad6e9a1a45e1b008b48fa-2000" alt="carter page" />Associated Press/Pavel GolovkinIn this Friday, July 8, 2016, file photo, Carter Page, then adviser to U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaks at the graduation ceremony for the New Economic School in Moscow, Russia.In contrast with Cold War-style espionage, the way the Russians now make initial contact with a potential asset is often perfectly legitimate, Jamali said. They start off with "walking through the front door" and asking for access, before assessing "whether you're a viable candidate for recruitment."A Russian spy ring uncovered by the FBI in 2013 - involving three Russian citizens who posed as a banker, a Russian trade representative, and a UN attache - is a good example of the way Russian espionage has evolved, Jamali noted. Carter Page, an early foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign who runs an energy firm called Global Energy Capital, LLC, met the spy posing as the Russian trade representative, Igor Sporyshev, at an energy conference in 2012. He and Sporyshev stayed in touch from 2012-2014, according to court filings. Page provided Sporyshev with information about the oil and gas industry that he has said was not sensitive or classified.As Jamali noted, however, "once [the Russians] decide to recruit you, it's a process of slow, careful relationship-building.""They work on moving that relationship from overt to covert, largely by pinpointing what their target's motivation is," Jamali said. "So I had to figure out what the Russian profile is for someone who would be motivated to spy for them, and build a caricature around that profile so that I would seem legitimate - in my case, it was money and ego."Jamali said that he "negotiated with the Russians very hard about money to make them believe that was my biggest motivation" in working with them. "That's what they believe Americans are after, above all else," Jamali said. "That, and ego-stroking."Jamali mentioned that he thought former national security adviser Michael Flynn's pattern of belatedly reporting his contact with foreign agents "raised a red flag" because it indicated that Flynn might be vulnerable to exploitation by foreign intelligence services. Flynn - who failed to immediately disclose payments he received from Russia's state-sponsored news agency, Russia Today, for various speaking engagements - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-flynn-investigation-russia-immunity-2017-3" target="_blank">has offered to testify</a> before the House and Senate intelligence committees <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-flynn-immunity-request-fbi-trump-russia-2017-3" target="_blank">in exchange for immunity.</a> Flynn also failed to disclose his contact with a Russian-British national, Svetlana Lokhova - who "has claimed to have unique access" to the GRU, Russia's military spy agency - to the US government while he was head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-flynn-immunity-request-fbi-trump-russia-2017-3" target="_blank">the Guardian reported last month.</a>Jamali has insisted that he made no public judgment one way or another as to whether Russia successfully targeted or recruited members of Trump's campaign team during the election. The presentation he gave to House Intelligence Committee Democrats, and shared with Business Insider, did not mention Trump or the 2016 election.Instead, he stressed that US counterintelligence efforts "have to be updated" to effectively combat Russia's continuously evolving recruitment methods."I reinforced the sense that Russia poses a real threat through this medium," Jamali said, referring to spy recruitment. "And it's a method that the US' foreign adversaries, like North Korea and China, will continue to aggressively copy."The committee members who attended the presentation "were engaged and asked good questions," according to Jamali, and he is optimistic that his message was well received. It is unclear whether he will be invited back now that Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence committee, has handed off the Trump-Russia probe to Rep. Mike Conaway. At least one Republican member of the committee denied that his colleagues had staged an "organized boycott" of the meeting."The meeting was scheduled late in the day after votes were over, so it is not surprising that it would be sparsely attended," Rep. Tom Rooney told Business Insider in a statement. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-john-lewis-fiery-speech-opposing-gop-health-care-bill-house-of-representatives-2017-3">'This bill is a shame and a disgrace': Watch John Lewis' fiery speech opposing the GOP health care bill</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

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