Brennan shared classified info about terrorism

But Brennan told the House intelligence committee on Tuesday that President Donald Trump would have violated protocol if he shared such information with Russian officials in the Oval Office spontaneously.

Brennan says such classified information typically shared through intelligence channels, not visiting diplomats.

He also says that before sharing such classified intelligence with foreign partners, the U.S. would go back to the intelligence partner that provided the information to make sure what was shared would not compromise operatives.

Former CIA Director John Brennan says he warned Russia against meddling in the presidential election during a call to the head of the Russian intelligence service on Aug. 4.

Brennan told the House intelligence committee on Tuesday that he was the first U.S. official to call out the Russians for their activities. Brennan says he told the head of the FSB that if Russia continued to interfere, it would backfire and prevent any warming of relations.

He says the Russian intelligence official denied that Russia was meddling, but said he would raise the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Former CIA Director John Brennan says Russia has a history of trying to “suborn individuals” and he worried last summer about the number of contacts Russian officials were having with Americans.

Brennan was testifying Tuesday before the House intelligence committee about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

He says that last summer he was increasingly concerned that Russian officials were perhaps trying to enlist the cooperation of people in the Trump campaign. Brennan says the contacts raised questions about whether Russia was trying to gain the cooperation of those individuals.

He says he doesn’t know if any collusion occurred between Russia and the Trump campaign.

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