White House claims FBI, NSA told Congress Russia did not influence election

The White House on Monday claimed the heads of the National Security Agency and the FBI told the House Intelligence Committee that Russia did not influence the United States presidential election — something officials stopped short of stating during their testimony.

In a tweet from President Trump’s official Twitter handle, the White House said the leaders of the FBI and NSA told Congress that Russia did not “influence the electoral process.”

The tweet included video of an exchange between Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Michael Rogers.

In the video, Nunes asks Comey and Rogers whether either official had evidence that Russia’s cyber actions changed vote tallies in several swing states.The officials said they did not have such evidence, though they stopped far short of saying that Russia did not influence the electoral process.

Separately, Comey confirmed that the FBI is investigating whether there was collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign during the presidential race. Comey did not provide any details about the probe, including whether the FBI has compelling evidence of collusion.

Democrat Hillary Clinton‘s campaign has blamed Russia in part for their loss in the election. The intelligence community has concluded that Russia did interfere in the election to hurt Clinton’s campaign.

In his question to Comey and Rogers, Nunes asked whether there was any evidence that the results in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio were affected by Russia. Trump won all of those states.

The intelligence community in January released a declassified report that concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an influence campaign meant to help Trump win the White House. The report stated that it did not assess the impact of Russia’s actions.

Here is the White House tweet:

The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence electoral process. pic.twitter.com/d9HqkxYBt5

— President Trump (@POTUS) March 20, 2017