Congress set to review bills to authorize intelligence body to oppose Russian interference and propaganda, which could be at odds with Trump administration

A provision in intelligence legislation that is going through Congress would create a new high-level body aimed at thwarting covert Russian political interference around the world, potentially placing it at odds with the incoming Donald Trump administration.



The measure, tucked into the fiscal 2017 House and Senate bills authorizing US intelligence operations, would create a powerful new committee across the security services to oppose Russian destabilization measures and propaganda domestically and worldwide.



Its mission – defined broadly and without geographic limitation – is to “counter active measures by the Russian Federation to exert covert influence over peoples and governments”, according to the texts of both the House and the Senate bills, both of which have won the approval of their intelligence committees.

It was first published in June – long before Trump’s election, and his tilt toward Moscow, seemed likely. Such a broad brief could in theory lead to a probe into allegations of ties between Trump’s circle and Moscow, and of Russian attempts to skew the outcome of the presidential vote by hacking Democratic party headquarters and leaking emails, and helping spread fake news.

“If indeed there are ties between the Russian government – and in particular intelligence agents – and people who have worked for Trump or continue to work for Trump, an investigation of this breadth could conceivably pick up information regarding Russia’s attempts or success in influencing American citizens working for Donald Trump,” said Evelyn Farkas, who from 2012 to 2015 was US deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia.

However, after 20 January, the proposed committee would be staffed largely by Trump appointees. As framed in the legislation it would consist of representatives handpicked by the leadership of the FBI, state department, Pentagon, office of the director of national intelligence, justice department, treasury department, the 16 intelligence agencies and any other agency the president designates.

Specifically, the high-level committee would be tasked with “exposing falsehoods, agents of influence, corruption, human rights abuses, terrorism and assassinations carried out by the security services or political elites of the Russian Federation or their proxies”.

Yet its work would not be necessarily limited to exposing such activity. It can be broadened to include “such other duties as the president may designate”, a vague and potentially expansive mandate.

Capitol Hill sources said the House version could receive a floor vote as soon as Wednesday, with the Senate version likely to follow in a matter of weeks, before the current legislative session expires. Intelligence authorization bills rarely fail to pass when brought up for votes.

Obama administration officials declined to comment on the bill, but the White House is known to have expressed opposition to the provision on the grounds it would require the president to establish a committee that would duplicate the work of other agencies. It is unclear if the White House would veto a bill that blesses a plethora of other intelligence activities over the measure.

The Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment.

Congressional sources, who were not cleared to speak for the record, indicated that the measure originated with Richard Burr, the North Carolina Republican who chairs the Senate intelligence committee. Burr, who won re-election earlier this month after a tight contest, said during his campaign: “There’s not a separation between me and Donald Trump.” A spokeswoman, Rebecca Glover Watkins, said she did not know if Burr’s office authored the provision and declined further comment.

Trump has signaled a new warmth toward Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

During the campaign Trump withstood repeated criticism for being a Kremlin “puppet”, in rival Hillary Clinton’s phrase, susceptible to former KGB agent Putin’s flattery.

His surrogates excised a measure from the Republican party platform that called for the US to arm Ukraine against Russian and Russian-backed separatist forces. Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, had earlier helped elect a pro-Russian Ukrainian as president.

After Trump’s election, the Kremlin said “a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia” was anticipated after a 14 November phone call between the two leaders. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Putin and Trump hold “phenomenally similar” foreign policy perspectives.

John McCain, the Arizona Republican who chairs the Senate armed services committee, has warned Trump against believing Putin is open to a substantive US partnership.

“We should place as much faith in such statements as any other made by a former KGB agent who has plunged his country into tyranny, murdered his political opponents, invaded his neighbors, threatened America’s allies and attempted to undermine America’s elections,” McCain said on 15 November.

The bill would also restrict Russian diplomats from traveling more than 50 miles from official embassies and consulates without the effective permission of the FBI director. Apart from a report in BuzzFeed, the provisions in the bill attracted little media attention in the spring when they won committee approval.

Capitol Hill sources said it was highly unlikely the GOP would strip the anti-Russian provision from the intelligence authorization bill when it came to the floor.

Farkas, now a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said an administration hostile to the provision might bury the committee in the bureaucracy where it could be neutralized.

“They can neutralize the legislation by taking a broad interpretation of what is required to meet the language in the statute,” Farkas said.

The legislation, though, provides alerts for Congress should the Trump administration marginalize the committee. It requires an annual report to key congressional panels on anti-Russian efforts stemming from the committee – including McCain’s – as well as a public report on “active measures by Russia to exert covert influence over the previous year, including significant incidents and notable trends”.