Cybersecurity

House Intel chair calls for briefing Thursday on Russian hacking

The House Intelligence Committee has asked four intelligence agencies for a briefing Thursday on alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election, The Hill has learned.

Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) asked the FBI, NSA, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and CIA to meet with committee members.

The panel has not heard back from the agencies, according to an aide. 

{mosads}The ask comes following a Monday letter from Nunes to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper demanding he resolve reported discrepancies between the FBI and CIA’s assessment of the Russian hacking.

Nunes had given Clapper until Friday to brief lawmakers.

The briefing would not be at the director level. Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan and their counterparts are not expected to attend. 

A Friday report in The Washington Post reported that the CIA believed hacks into the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations were an explicit attempt by the Russian government to help Donald Trump attain the White House — an assessment the FBI reportedly did not believe the evidence supported.

The report sparked calls for Congressional investigations from both sides of the aisle. Lawmakers are still wrangling over what form that probe should take and who should conduct it, although Republican leadership has sought to contain the investigations to the Intelligence Committee.

Nunes said Monday that any additional probes into the hacking would be duplicative of current committee efforts.