Politico and The Daily Beast are is reporting that Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Intelligence panel on Wednesday voiced bipartisan backing for the U.S. intelligence assessment that the Russian government sought to elevate the candidacy of Donald Trump while harming Hillary Clinton. A second report released by the Judiciary Committee, adds that the Kremlin used the NRA as a vehicle for helping Trump, writes the Daily Beast. From Politico:
It's a powerful bipartisan endorsement of a conclusion that had been called into question by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, who have accused intelligence agencies of failing to employ proper "tradecraft" when they concluded Russia came to support Trump's candidacy. Instead, it's the Republicans on the House panel who find themselves isolated in their position in what has become an increasingly antagonistic relationship with the FBI and Justice Department.
“I’ve heard nothing to contradict anything from the [intelligence community assessment] particularly in terms of the fact Russian massively intervened in our elections to the purpose of helping Mr. Trump and hurting Hillary Clinton,” the committee's top Democrat, Mark Warner of Virginia, told reporters after the committee held a closed hearing with intelligence committee leaders.
The bipartisan effort is a direct rebuttal of the GOP House Intelligence panel’s conclusion last month that while Russia wanted to disrupt election, its efforts did not favor Trump.
The [House] report charges the intelligence community with “significant intelligence tradecraft failings,” suggesting, without saying explicitly, that Russia’s main goal was to sow discord in the United States and not to help Trump win the election.
The Senate Intelligence release provides a greater context for the Senate Judiciary’s release on Wednesday morning of some 2,500 documents related to the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between top Trump campaign chiefs, a Kremlin-linked lawyer and other Russian operatives. The ranking Democratic member on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, also released preliminary findings of the panel’s investigation suggesting Russia had used the NRA as a vehicle for influencing the campaign.
The Committee has obtained a number of documents that suggest the Kremlin used the National Rifle Association as a means of accessing and assisting Mr. Trump and his campaign. Two individuals involved in this effort appear to be Russian nationals Alexander Torshin and Maria Butina. [...]
During the campaign, Mr. Torshin, Ms. Butina, and their intermediaries repeatedly offered the campaign back channels to Russia and relayed requests from President Putin to meet with Mr. Trump. The Kremlin may also have used the NRA to secretly fund Mr. Trump’s campaign. The extent of Russia’s use of the NRA as an avenue for connecting with and potentially supporting the Trump campaign needs examination. Requests for documents and staff interviews have been sent to Ms. Butina, Mr. Erickson, and Mr. Keene, but they have refused to cooperate.
Correction: A previous version of this post attributed the Judiciary panel’s assessment of Russia’s contacts with the NRA to the Senate Intelligence panel. That was an error. The Intelligence panel’s conclusion that Russia sought to help Trump was indeed separate from the Judiciary finding that Russia tried to use the NRA as a vehicle of influence in the election.