Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence
President Trump asked two of the nation’s top intelligence officials in March to help  him  push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between  his  campaign and the Russian government  according to current and former officials.
 Trump  made separate appeals to the director of national intelligence  Daniel Coats  and to Adm. Michael S. Rogers  the director of the National Security Agency  urging them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election.
 Trump  sought the assistance of Coats and Rogers after FBI Director James B. Comey told the House Intelligence Committee on March 20 that the FBI was investigating “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the  Trump  campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”
 Trump’s  conversation with Rogers was documented contemporaneously in an internal memo written by a senior NSA official  according to the officials. It is unclear if a similar memo was prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to document  Trump ’s conversation with Coats. Officials said such memos could be made available to both the special counsel now overseeing the Russia investigation and congressional investigators  who might explore whether  Trump  sought to impede the FBI’s work.
White House officials say Comey’s testimony about the scope of the FBI investigation upset  Trump   who has dismissed the FBI and congressional investigations as a “witch hunt.” The president has repeatedly said there was no collusion.
Current and former senior intelligence officials viewed  Trump’s  requests as an attempt by the president to tarnish the credibility of the agency leading the Russia investigation.
A senior intelligence official said  Trump’s  goal was to “muddy the waters” about the scope of the FBI probe at a time when Democrats were ramping up their calls for the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel  a step announced last week.
In addition to the requests to Coats and Rogers  senior White House officials sounded out top intelligence officials about the possibility of intervening directly with Comey to encourage the FBI to drop its probe of Michael Flynn  Trump’s former national security adviser  according to people familiar with the matter. The officials said the White House appeared uncertain about its power to influence the FBI.
The new revelations add to a growing body of evidence that  Trump  sought to co-opt and then undermine Comey before he fired him May 9. According to notes kept by  Comey  Trump  first asked for  his  loyalty at a dinner in January and then  at a meeting the next month  asked  him  to drop the probe into Flynn.  Trump  disputes those accounts.
Current and former officials said that  Trump  either lacks an understanding of the FBI’s role as an independent law enforcement agency or does not care about maintaining such boundaries.
 Trump’s  effort to use the director of national intelligence and the NSA director to dispute Comey’s statement and to say there was no evidence of collusion echoes President Richard Nixon’s “unsuccessful efforts to use the CIA to shut down the FBI’s investigation of the Watergate break-in on national security grounds ” said Jeffrey H. Smith  a former general counsel at the CIA. Smith called  Trump ’s actions “an appalling abuse of power.”
 Trump  made  his  appeal to Coats days after Comey’s testimony  according to officials.
That same week   Trump  telephoned Rogers to make a similar appeal.
In  his  call with  Rogers  Trump  urged the NSA director to speak out publicly if there was no evidence of collusion  according to officials briefed on the exchange.
While relations between  Trump  and Comey were strained by the Russia probe  ties between the president and the other intelligence chiefs  including Rogers  Coats and CIA Director Mike Pompeo  appear to be less contentious  according to officials.
Rogers met with  Trump  in New York shortly after the election  and  Trump ’s advisers at the time held him out as the leading candidate to be the next director of national intelligence.
[TGT] asked two of the nation’s top intelligence officials in March to help  [TGT]  push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between  [TGT]  campaign and the Russian government  according to current and former officials.
 [TGT]made separate appeals to the director of national intelligence  Daniel Coats  and to Adm. Michael S. Rogers  the director of the National Security Agency  urging them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election.
 [TGT]sought the assistance of Coats and Rogers after FBI Director James B. Comey told the House Intelligence Committee on March 20 that the FBI was investigating “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the  [TGT]  campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”
 Trump’s  conversation with Rogers was documented contemporaneously in an internal memo written by a senior NSA official  according to the officials. It is unclear if a similar memo was prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to document  Trump ’s conversation with Coats. Officials said such memos could be made available to both the special counsel now overseeing the Russia investigation and congressional investigators  who might explore whether  [TGT]sought to impede the FBI’s work.
White House officials say Comey’s testimony about the scope of the FBI investigation upset  Trump   who has dismissed the FBI and congressional investigations as a “witch hunt.” The president has repeatedly said there was no collusion.
Current and former senior intelligence officials viewed  Trump’s  requests as an attempt by the president to tarnish the credibility of the agency leading the Russia investigation.
A senior intelligence official said  Trump’s  goal was to “muddy the waters” about the scope of the FBI probe at a time when Democrats were ramping up their calls for the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel  a step announced last week.
In addition to the requests to Coats and Rogers  senior White House officials sounded out top intelligence officials about the possibility of intervening directly with Comey to encourage the FBI to drop its probe of Michael Flynn  Trump’s former national security adviser  according to people familiar with the matter. The officials said the White House appeared uncertain about its power to influence the FBI.
The new revelations add to a growing body of evidence that  [TGT]sought to co-opt and then undermine Comey before he fired him May 9. According to notes kept by  [TGT]first asked for  [TGT]  loyalty at a dinner in January and then  at a meeting the next month  asked  [TGT]  to drop the probe into Flynn.  [TGT]  disputes those accounts.
Current and former officials said that  [TGT]  either lacks an understanding of the FBI’s role as an independent law enforcement agency or does not care about maintaining such boundaries.
 Trump’s  effort to use the director of national intelligence and the NSA director to dispute Comey’s statement and to say there was no evidence of collusion echoes President Richard Nixon’s “unsuccessful efforts to use the CIA to shut down the FBI’s investigation of the Watergate break-in on national security grounds ” said Jeffrey H. Smith  a former general counsel at the CIA. [TGT] actions “an appalling abuse of power.”
 [TGT]made  [TGT]  appeal to Coats days after Comey’s testimony  according to officials.
That same week   [TGT]telephoned Rogers to make a similar appeal.
In  his  call with  Rogers  [TGT]  urged the NSA director to speak out publicly if there was no evidence of collusion  according to officials briefed on the exchange.
While relations between  [TGT]and Comey were strained by the Russia probe  ties between the president and the other intelligence chiefs  including Rogers  Coats and CIA Director Mike Pompeo  appear to be less contentious  according to officials.
Rogers met with  [TGT]in New York shortly after the election  and  [TGT] ’s advisers at the time held him out as the leading candidate to be the next director of national intelligence.