Warner Wants More Investigation Into Trump Digital Campaign Role

(Bloomberg) -- The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee called for more investigation into the digital activities of Donald Trump’s campaign, amid concerns about Russian-directed misinformation efforts to influence the election, even as the president’s lawyer vigorously defended his client.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said he wants to look into the activities of Cambridge Analytica, a data firm that advised Trump’s campaign, as well as Trump’s digital efforts during the election because of the way false election stories about Hillary Clinton were circulated and targeted online.

“The ability to manipulate these search engines and some of these social media platforms is real, it’s out there,” Warner said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “We need information from the companies, as well as we need to look into the activities of some of the Trump digital campaign activities.’’

Separately, on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Warner said there was a series of “trolls” or paid individuals who worked for Russian services that tried to interfere in the election and disseminate fake news.

The comments came as FBI and congressional committees continue to investigate Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election, and whether members of Trump’s campaign cooperated. Questions intensified after revelations last week that the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., met in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer whom Trump Jr. believed to have information damaging to Clinton. Also at the meeting was Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort. 

No Violation

Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s personal attorneys, appeared on multiple Sunday talk shows to say the meeting didn’t violate the law and that the president wasn’t aware of the meeting and didn’t participate.

“I wonder why the Secret Service, if this was nefarious, why the Secret Service allowed these people in,” Sekulow said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The president had Secret Service protection at that point, and that raised a question with me.”

On CNN, Warner pointed to what he called a “convenient pattern” of Kushner, now a senior White House adviser, and other members associated with the Trump administration having to amend disclosure forms to add meetings with Russians that they had neglected to report earlier.

“I’m not sure why we take anybody in the senior level of the Trump administration at their word,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important that we’re going to get a chance to question these individuals and try to actually nail down the truth.’’

Warner has said Trump Jr. is likely to be called to testify, and he said on CNN that he would also like to hear from Kushner and others.

Ty Cobb

After the younger Trump published emails related to the meeting on Twitter, preempting their release by The New York Times, a former Russian counterintelligence officer also said he was present at the meeting. The emails contradicted months of White House contentions that investigations of possible campaign collusion with Russia were nothing more than a “witch hunt.”

As Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller deepens his probe into campaign activities, the White House on Saturday confirmed it had hired Ty Cobb, a veteran Washington lawyer, as a special counsel. Cobb is expected to oversee the White House’s legal and media response to investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign.

Attention to the unfolding scandal has diverted attention from other issues, including health care. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said late Saturday that he’s delaying plans to begin debating a controversial health-care bill after Republican Senator John McCain said he’ll be home in Arizona recovering from unexpected surgery.

--With assistance from Ben Brody

To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Niquette in Columbus at mniquette@bloomberg.net, Alan Bjerga in Washington at abjerga@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Gordon at cgordon39@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Kevin Miller