Dan Rather: Ignore ‘misdirection’ on Trump, Russia

Former longtime CBS News anchor Dan Rather says Americans must remain focused on potential collusion between Russia and President Trump’s 2016 election campaign team.

“We know that Russia — led by a former KGB agent — actively worked to undermine our election,” Rather wrote Wednesday on Facebook. “We know that there are serious investigations into collusion between Trump associates and Russian operatives. That is the story.”

“The misdirection meter is turned up full. We cannot let ourselves be distracted. Everything else is just noise and dust until proven otherwise,” he added.

{mosads}Rather mentioned controversy over former national security adviser Susan Rice. Allies of Trump have accused the former Obama administration official of asking for the names of Trump associates to be identified or “unmasked” in raw intelligence reports for political reasons, something that she denied on Tuesday.

He also mentioned the claim that Trump associates were surveilled by the Obama administration. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said last month that the U.S. intelligence community incidentally collected information on members of Trump’s team, saying he believed it was done legally.

Rather’s remarks come as both the House and Senate intelligence committees investigate Russia’s meddling in last year’s presidential race.

FBI Director James Comey confirmed last month that his bureau is also probing Russian intrusions into the 2016 race, including possible collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign officials.

Comey said the FBI’s investigation into Russian election interference began late last July and would include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed.

The revelation has brought new scrutiny to former Trump campaign associates with possible ties to Russia, including former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.