GOP Rep. Wonders If NY Times’ Sources Are Russians Posing As US Officials

Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH).
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Late into the third hour of Monday’s House Intelligence Committee hearing, during which the FBI’s director confirmed the agency was investigating whether there was any “cooperation” between the Trump campaign and Russia, one Republican congressman attempted to discredit the media’s reporting on the topic.

“Is it possible that the New York Times was misled by individuals claiming to be current or former American officials?” Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) asked.

When Comey said he could not answer that question, Wenstrup continued down the same path.

“Is it possible that a so-called ‘source’ to a media outlet may actually be a Russian advocate?” he asked. “Nothing to do with this story, but is it possible that a Russian surrogate could actually be the source that a newspaper is relying on?”

Comey again refused to confirm or deny the source of a specific article, saying only: “In general, sure. Somebody could always be pretending to be something they’re not.”

The New York Times article in question disclosed to the public that several members of Trump’s presidential campaign and inner circle had phone conversations and other communications with Russian officials that were intercepted by U.S. intelligence agencies.

The New York Times, asked by TPM for comment, said: “We are confident in the accuracy of our reporting and veracity of our sources. In fact, anyone who reads our coverage will see that Mr. Comey confirmed our reporting.”

This piece has been updated.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. I think the peroxide for bleaching his hair done seeped in his ear holes…

    What an asshat…

  2. Say what you want about McCarthy, at least HE was a Republican who put America First, and actively tried to find Soviet plants undermining America.

    Unlike the entire modern Republican Party, who is actively working to prevent us finding out whether there was a real threat against the USA from a former KGB agent…

  3. Is it possible the Moon is made of green cheese? Is it possible this idiot is trying to run interference for Agent Orange? I wonder…

  4. WTF? Is he writing a novel and trying to get confirmation if ‘it could or could not’ WORK from the FBI?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

35 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for beal Avatar for thehatter Avatar for sysprog Avatar for ncsteve Avatar for leftflank Avatar for epicurus Avatar for DuckmanGR Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for yskov Avatar for explainer Avatar for eb5 Avatar for candirue Avatar for rb639 Avatar for thenme Avatar for twowolves Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for cec327 Avatar for coimmigrant Avatar for hello Avatar for gregangelo Avatar for groundloop Avatar for the_loan_arranger Avatar for moniker

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: