Russian Charged With Treason Worked in Office Linked to Election Hacking

 

5 / 18

The New York Times

By ANDREW E. KRAMER3 hrs ago

 

© Chirikov/EPA/REX/Shutterstock/Rex Images General View of the Headquarters of the Federal Security Service Building in Moscow

MOSCOW — The authorities in Moscow are prosecuting at least one cybersecurity expert for treason, a prominent Russian criminal defense lawyer confirmed on Friday, while a Russian newspaper reported that the case is linked to hacking during the United States presidential election.

While surely touching a nerve in American politics, the developments in Moscow left a still muddled picture of what, exactly, a series of arrests by the security services here signifies.

But the virtually simultaneous appearance of at least four prominent news reports on the hacking and several related arrests, citing numerous anonymous sources, suggests that the normally opaque Russian government intends to reveal more information about the matter, though it is unclear why.

In the waning weeks of the Obama administration, American federal intelligence agencies released a report asserting the Russian government had hacked into the computers of the Democratic National Committee and the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, John D. Podesta, stealing and releasing to WikiLeaks emails intended to damage Mrs. Clinton and help President Trump win the election.

But the unclassified version of the report offered only thin corroborating information, many independent analysts have said. The treason arrests in Moscow hint at a possible human intelligence source in at least one hacking episode, the intrusion into state electoral boards in Arizona and Illinois.

The confirmation by the Russian lawyer, Ivan Pavlov, in written answers to questions from The New York Times, was the closest so far to a formal acknowledgment that the Russian government has detained suspected spies within the cyberbranch of its Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., the main successor to the K.G.B.

Mr. Pavlov declined to identify his client or elaborate on the reason for the indictment for “betraying the state,” punishable by up to 20 years in a penal colony.

Kommersant, a Russian newspaper, first reported Wednesday on what the Russian news media are calling a purge of the cyberbranch of the F.S.B. that was conducted in early December.

It reported that the Directorate for Internal Security, the agency’s internal affairs bureau, arrested Sergei Mikhailov, a deputy director of the Center for Information Security, the agency’s cybersecurity arm, and Ruslan Stoyanov, a senior researcher at a prominent cybersecurity company, Kaspersky Lab.

Novaya Gazeta, a respected Russian opposition newspaper, reported Friday that the internal investigation led to two other arrests, and that all of the detentions were related to American investigations into Russian hacking during the election.

The newspaper’s report, based on unnamed sources, said the F.S.B. began the internal investigation after news media reports that a United States cybersecurity company, ThreatConnect, had linked the election hacking to a Siberian server company. That company, King Servers, was otherwise used largely for criminal and marginal cyberactivities, such as distributing pornography and counterfeit goods, by the admission of its owner.

The report said the investigation led to Mr. Mikhailov, a senior officer involved in tracking criminal cyberactivity in Russia.

Both Novaya Gazeta, an outlet for the liberal opposition, and Tsargrad, a hard-line nationalist publication, reported that the F.S.B. made a brutal show of his arrest.

Agents arrested Mr. Mikhailov with a theatrical touch, placing a bag over his head in the midst of a congress of senior intelligence agency officers in Moscow and leading him from the room, the two publications reported.

“The arrest was certainly colorful,” Tsargrad’s report said. “Mikhailov was led from the congress of F.S.B. colleagues with a bag on his head.”

Still, the fragmentary information about the arrests seemed, as is so often the case here, little more than shadows cast on a wall of real, unseen events taking place out of public view.

The hints suggested to some analysts that the Russian government may be signaling that it might, however indirectly through a treason trial, reveal details of election hacking, which have the potential of damaging the administration of Mr. Trump.

“They are suggesting it is true, and furthermore, they can prove as much,” Kenneth Geers, a former cyberanalyst with the Department of Defense and an authority on Russian signals intelligence tradecraft, said of the Russians possibly revealing details of their own operation.

“They could increase the pressure on Trump in the United States by suggesting he is an illegitimate president,” Mr. Geers said, by simply verifying parts of what United States intelligence has already asserted that Russia did. “That would seem to put tremendous pressure on the White House.”

Another, somewhat counterintuitive suggestion is that by documenting its role in the electoral hacks, the Kremlin could serve its foreign policy interests by underscoring the extent and power of its reach in the world. The Russian Foreign Ministry has denied any role in the hacking.

ThreatConnect, the cybersecurity company that released the report about King Servers, said its analysis was based on information published by the F.B.I.

The investigation into King Servers began after the hacking of state electoral board computers in Arizona and Illinois from June until August of last year. The F.B.I. published eight internet addresses used in those attacks.

ThreatConnect then identified six of the eight addresses as originating from servers in Dronten, the Netherlands, owned by King Servers and run by Vladimir M. Fomenko, a 26-year-old living in a remote town in Siberia near the border with Mongolia. In an interview in September, Mr. Fomenko denied any role in the electoral hacking, but conceded clients who had rented his servers may have used them for that purpose.

ThreatConnect declined to comment after the arrests in Moscow.

Above is from:  http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russian-charged-with-treason-worked-in-office-linked-to-election-hacking/ar-AAmjXsj?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

Deepening the sense of intrigue in Moscow, Tsargrad, the nationalist publication, and RBC, a respected business newspaper, identified on Friday a third suspect, Dmitry Dokuchayev. Described as a former hacker going by the pseudonym Forb who was recruited by the F.S.B., Mr. Dokuchayev had agreed to work in the Center for Information Security to avoid arrest for credit card fraud, a rampant crime in Russia.

RBC also reported an alternative theory about the entire counterintelligence investigation, saying it began after a hacking group, Shaltai Boltai, or Humpty Dumpty, stole the emails of a senior Russian official a year ago.

That investigation of email theft led to Mr. Dokuchayev, the former hacker turned F.S.B. employee, the newspaper said, in a version that would seem unrelated to the United States election hacking.

In a 2004 interview with Vedomosti newspaper, apparently before his reported recruitment by the F.S.B., Mr. Dokuchayev openly described himself as a hacker, believing that “information should be free” and calling his “crowning achievement” the hacking of an unspecified United States government website.

Was Dane-Miami County ever a “sanctuary county”?

 

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Miami-Dade mayor: Trump should pay immigration jail costs

By Cristiano Lima and Marc Caputo

01/26/17 06:41 PM EST

Updated 01/26/17 07:52 PM EST

The mayor of Miami-Dade county on Thursday ordered county jails to comply with federal detention requests, citing President Donald Trump's executive orders concerning "sanctuary jurisdictions" for illegal immigrants.

But in doing so, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez tells POLITICO that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency needs to start cooperating with the county and paying for the detention of illegal immigrants in one of the nation's largest counties of foreign-born residents.

"If ICE asks us to detain someone we arrested --not for immigration issues because we're not immigration officers-- we feel ICE should pay the bill and bear the responsibility for housing their inmate," Gimenez said.

"There is no change in broader policy," he said. "The change here is we just won't require a letter from ICE for each inmate. But we are not dropping our request to reimburse county taxpayers fairly for aiding the federal government."

Due to ICE's refusal to adequately reimburse the county during President Barack Obama's just-ended term, the county commission in 2013 passed a policy to refuse undocumented-immigrant detainer requests from the federal government. The move earned the county the reputation as a "sanctuary" for illegal immigrants, but Miami-Dade officials and others in the state bristled at the designation .

 

Gimenez noted that Trump's action to withhold federal funding from "sanctuary jurisdictions" technically didn't apply to the county because the president's order narrowly focused on agencies that violated a federal law that prohibited the obstruction of information requested by immigration officials.

Gimenez said his effort to accommodate Trump would hopefully incentivize his administration to cover the estimated $50,000 cost for housing about 200 inmates annually.

Still, the move essentially ends the county's standing as a "sanctuary" for undocumented immigrants.

Though the county never officially declared itself as a sanctuary, it has effectively served as one since the county's 2013 decision to stop aiding ICE.

“Miami-Dade County complies with federal law and intends to fully cooperate with the federal government,” Gimenez wrote in a letter addressed to the county's department of corrections and rehabilitation. “I will partner with the Board of County Commissioners to address any issues necessary to achieve this end.”

In all, about seven counties in Florida have refused to detain illegal immigrants due to ICE's actions. Other county sheriffs said they wouldn't detain potential immigrants identified by the agency because ICE's evidence is sometimes wrong and American citizens have been unfairly detained for immigration offenses, leading to lawsuits.

In a speech speech at the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, Trump vowed that his executive orders would save lives and “save billions and billions of dollars.”

“For too long your office’s agents haven’t been allowed to properly do their jobs,” Trump said. “You know that, right? Do you know that? Absolutely. But that’s all about to change.”

 

Trump added: "By working together, safe borders and economic cooperation, I truly believe we can enhance the relation between our two nations, to a degree not seen before, certainly, in a very, very long time. I think our relationship with Mexico is going to get better."

The Miami-Dade administrator’s decision comes on the heels of several major city officials – from New York, Los Angeles and Chicago – openly rejecting Trump’s orders. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio went as far as to threaten legal action if the president followed through on his promise to cut off federal dollars from so-called “sanctuary cities.”

"President Trump issued an executive order today and its purported purpose was to enhance public safety, but here in New York City and in cities across this nation this executive order could in fact undermine public safety," de Blasio said at a press conference in New York Wednesday.

The president’s executive order directing federal officials to begin the “immediate construction of a physical wall” on the southern-U.S. border, meanwhile, has drawn sharp criticism from Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who on Thursday cancelled a planned meeting with Trump next week.

“This morning we told the White House we won't attend next Tuesday's meeting with [President Trump],” Peña Nieto tweeted in a series of tweets Thursday morning. “Mexico reiterates its will to work with the US to achieve agreements for both of us.”

Trump on Thursday claimed that the decision to call off the meeting was mutual, saying that the gathering would be pointless if the Mexican leader did not show the U.S. the proper “respect.”

“I’ve said many times that the American people will not pay for the wall. And I’ve made that clear to the government of Mexico,” Trump said Thursday to congressional Republicans at a retreat in Philadelphia. “To that end, the president of Mexico and myself have agreed to cancel our planned meeting scheduled for next week. Unless Mexico is going to treat the United States fairly, with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless and I want to go a different route. We have no choice.”

Sergio Bustos contributed to this report.

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Cristiano Lima

Above is from:  http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/report-miami-dade-mayor-citing-trump-guts-countys-immigrant-sanctuary-234244

Philadelphia mayor refutes Trump’s murder rate claim

 

Christopher Wilson 5 hours ago

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Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney issued a statement refuting President Trump’s claim on Thursday that murder rates in the city were “terribly increasing.”

“Right now, too many families don’t feel secure,” said Trump, addressing Republican legislators at a GOP retreat in Philadelphia. “Just look at the 30 largest cities. In the last year alone, the murder rate has increased by an estimated 14 percent. Here in Philadelphia, the murder rate has been steady, I mean just, terribly increasing.”

The assertion was rebutted by several outlets, but Kenney’s statement served as the official response from the city.

“President Trump’s false statements today were an insult to the men and women of the Philadelphia police force — the very same men and women who are working long hours today to ensure his safety,” the mayor said on Thursday afternoon. “Our police officers have worked tirelessly and with great personal sacrifice to get Philadelphia’s crime rate down to its lowest point in forty years, while also successfully implementing reforms to strengthen police-community relations and uphold the rights of all our residents.”

“Our homicides are, in fact, slowly declining, and while we are not satisfied with even our current numbers, we are handicapped by Republican refusal to enact any kind of common sense gun control and by their obsession with turning our police officers into ICE agents – which will prevent immigrants from coming forward to report crimes or provide critical witnesses statements that can put dangerous criminals behind bars.”

Overall, Philadelphia saw an uptick in overall homicides in recent years from lows in 2013 and 2014, but last year saw three fewer murders than 2015, according to local police. When the number of homicides is looked at per capita — as in this chart from the Philadelphia Inquirer — the rates drop even lower.

Graph showing Philadelphia’s murder rate per 100,000 residents. (Image via the Philadelphia Inquirer)

This is not the first time Trump has mentioned violent crime since taking the oath of office. He said he would consider sending “the feds” to Chicago if the murder rate there was not reduced. When discussing the shootings there on Thursday, Trump asked, “What the hell is going on in Chicago?” A man in the room replied, “Democrats,” eliciting laughter.

“A lot of truth to that,” Trump said.

Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/philadelphia-mayor-rebukes-trumps-murder-rate-claim-212557925.html

It turns out Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner is also registered to vote in two states

 

7 / 22

The Washington Post

 

© Provided by WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post Jared Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, is currently registered to vote in New Jersey and New York. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and one of his closest White House advisers, is registered to vote in both New Jersey and New York, according to elections officials and voting registration records, another high-profile example of how common it is for voters to hold dual registrations.

With Kushner, The Washington Post has now identified four Trump family members or top administration appointees who were registered in two states during last fall's election. The others are chief White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon; Tiffany Trump, the president's youngest daughter; and Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin, as first reported by CNN.

White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump said this week that the fact that many voters are registered in two states is a sign of widespread voter fraud, calling for a “major investigation” into his unsubstantiated claim that millions of people cast illegal ballots in November.

“You have people that are registered who are dead, who are illegals, who are in two states,” the president told ABC's David Muir Wednesday. “You have people registered in two states. They're registered in a New York and a New Jersey. They vote twice. There are millions of votes, in my opinion.”

It is not illegal to be registered to vote in two states, and elections officials say that does not mean voters are casting ballots in two locations. In fact, it is quite common for out-of-date registrations to linger on the rolls, due to voters dying or moving to new jurisdictions. A a 2012 Pew Center on the States study that Trump has erroneously cited as evidence of voter fraud found that about 2.75 million people were registered in more than one state — largely because voters did not report when they moved to new jurisdictions.

“It's not fraud,” said John Lindback, executive director of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonprofit that works with states to improve the accuracy of their voting rolls. “When people move from one state to another or move down the street, they don’t think to change their voter registration.”

That appears to be what happened in the case of Kushner, who married Trump's daughter Ivanka in October 2009. New Jersey voting records show that he registered to vote there in 1999 and cast ballots in New Jersey through the November 2009 state general election, when now-Gov. Chris Christie (R) was on the ballot for his first race.

Later that month, Kushner registered in New York at his Park Avenue address. Voting records show he began casting ballots in New York in 2010.

Representatives for Kushner did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In the case of Bannon, he was registered until this week in both New York and Florida, despite his efforts to remove himself from the rolls in the latter. Mnuchin is registered in both New York, where he last voted in 2008, and in California, where he cast his ballot in the November elections, elections records show. And Tiffany Trump, the president's daughter, is registered in both New York and Pennsylvania, where she was attending college until last May.

On Thursday, White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway disputed that Tiffany Trump held dual registrations, telling NBC's “Today” that the president's youngest daughter told her “it is flatly false that she is registered in two states.”

But elections officials said voters often do not realize they often stay on the rolls after they have moved out of a jurisdiction.

One major reason that out-of-date registrations are not always flagged is that less than half the states participate in ERIC, a cooperative that was created after the 2012 Pew study to help make voter rolls more accurate and comprehensive. Members of the group, which currently includes 20 states and the District of Columbia, are required to share their voter registration data every 60 days. The nonprofit uses that data — along with information from state motor vehicle departments, the Social Security death index and the U.S. Postal Service's national change of address list — to match and update voter files. In 2016, it identified about 2 million voters who had moved, passed away or had duplicate registrations.

“Before ERIC was formed, it was much worse,” Lindback said. But he noted that some of the most populous states, including California, Florida and New York, do not yet participate. If more states join,"the number of cases will go way down,” he added.

Lindback, who previously served as Oregon's director of elections, said he is hopeful that Trump's focus on dual registrations could help encourage more states to exchange data. But he said he's concerned that the president's debunked claims that millions of illegal votes were cast in November could “have the effect of reducing confidence in how our elections are run.”

“I just don’t get it,” he added. “I have been in elections a lot of years, and it's usually the loser of an election who claims fraud. I’ve never seen a winner claim fraud. What is going on here?”

Above is from:  http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/it-turns-out-trump-son-in-law-jared-kushner-is-also-registered-to-vote-in-two-states/ar-AAmhpvk?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

Deportations Could Disrupt Wisconsin's Ag Industry

 

 

January 3. 2017

 

Deportation of undocumented immigrants would affect tens of thousands of dairy farm workers and seasonal crop harvesters in Wisconsin. (rightdx/iStockPhoto)

MADISON, Wis. – During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly promised to deport millions of people who are undocumented. A number of farm groups are saying "not so fast." The American Farm Bureau Federation said about half the farm workers in this country are undocumented.
Steve Suppan, senior policy analyst at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, said the Farm Bureau has to walk a fine line because its constituents are largely Republican, and they wouldn't back plans to make farm workers U.S. citizens.
"A very small needle that has to be threaded between providing agribusiness what it wants and still somehow pretending to keep to the electoral pledge and the general idea of deporting the immigrants who are blamed for the loss of employment," he explained.
The American Farm Bureau has called for immigration reform, saying there needs to be a new, more flexible visa program that meets the needs of farmers and workers but, at the same time, guarantees that the agricultural workforce is not subjected to mass deportation. The University of Wisconsin estimates that 40 percent of the workers now on Wisconsin dairy farms are undocumented immigrants.
Deporting a significant percentage of the estimated 85,000 undocumented Wisconsin ag workers could have a drastic effect. Many of the state's dairy farmers say they could not operate without the immigrants. Suppan said the industry depends on minimum or less than minimum-wage labor, but he expects there will be some deportations under a Trump administration.
"There are going to be, definitely, some fairly spectacular roundups, at least of the type that will show 'victory for America,' the immigrant-deportation variation of the 'Carrier saving 700 jobs,'" he said. "So, I expect to see a fair amount of public-relations outreach concerning migrants."
To the argument that immigrants are taking Americans' jobs, Suppan said legal citizens haven't wanted to work in the industry, especially for the wages that currently are being offered, which, according to the USDA, is on average, $10.80 an hour, and even less for undocumented workers.
"Let's say you take the wage up to an average of $15 an hour, and you include benefits," he added. "That changes the pricing structure of agriculture, and then becomes questionable whether, for example, the confined animal-feed operation business model is viable."

Tim Morrissey, Public News Service - WI

Above is from:  http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2017-01-03/budget-policy-and-priorities/deportations-could-disrupt-wisconsins-ag-industry/a55676-1

Tweets from President Tweet

 

These are from:  https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump

 

 

Donald J. Trump followed

1. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 57m57 minutes ago

    

   I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week.Thank you!

    

2. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 1h1 hour ago

   even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!

3. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 1h1 hour ago

    

   I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....

    

Donald J. Trump followed

1. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago

    

   Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!

    

2. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago

    

   If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!

   81K

3. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago

    

   Congratulations to @FoxNews for being number one in inauguration ratings. They were many times higher than FAKE NEWS @CNN - public is smart!

    

4. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 4h4 hours ago

    

   Great meeting with Ford CEO Mark Fields and General Motors CEO Mary Barra at the @WhiteHouse today.pic.twitter.com/T0eIgO6LP8

    

5. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 11h11 hours ago

   Mo

   Signing orders to move forward with the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines in the Oval Office.pic.twitter.com/OErGmbBvYK – at The Oval Office

   

6. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 12h12 hours ago

    

   Great meeting with automobile industry leaders at the @WhiteHouse this morning. Together, we will #MAGA!pic.twitter.com/OXdiLOkGsZ

   

    

7. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 12h12 hours ago

    

   A photo delivered yesterday that will be displayed in the upper/lower press hall. Thank you Abbas!pic.twitter.com/Uzp0ivvRp0

   

    

8. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 18h18 hours ago

    

   Will be meeting at 9:00 with top automobile executives concerning jobs in America. I want new plants to be built here for cars sold here!

9. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Jan 23

    

   Busy week planned with a heavy focus on jobs and national security. Top executives coming in at 9:00 A.M. to talk manufacturing in America.

    

10. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Jan 22

     

    Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views.

     

11. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Jan 22

     

    Wow, television ratings just out: 31 million people watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago!

     

12. Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Jan 22

     

    Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly.

     

The whole truth about President T’s speech at the CIA

 

Ex-CIA chief Brennan bashes Trump over speech during CIA visit

By Ryan Browne, CNN

Updated 7:51 PM ET, Sat January 21, 2017

 

 

 

Washington (CNN)Former CIA Director John Brennan is "deeply saddened and angered" at President Donald Trump after the commander in chief addressed CIA employees at their headquarters in Langley, Virginia, on Saturday, Brennan's former deputy chief of staff says.

Trump spent much of his speech -- which he gave in front of a memorial wall that honors the 117 CIA officers who have fallen in the line of duty -- focusing on the size of the crowd size at his inauguration, his appearance on magazine covers and saying he "has a running war with the media."

"Former CIA Director Brennan is deeply saddened and angered at Donald Trump's despicable display of self-aggrandizement in front of CIA's Memorial Wall of Agency heroes," Nick Shapiro said in a statement. "Brennan says that Trump should be ashamed of himself."

Trump's visit, his first official one since becoming President, was seen as part of a bid to mend fences after he strained relations with intelligence officials by repeatedly casting doubt on their assessment that Russia had carried out cyberattacks during the campaign. He also suggested that the intelligence community was leaking information about the investigation to the press, taking to Twitter to slam Brennan, a 25-year veteran of the agency.

The President sought to send a message of support to the intelligence community following the turbulent transition, telling the 300 employees in attendance, "I am so behind you."

"I am with you 1,000%," Trump said after receiving intelligence briefings from top agency officials.

"There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump," he said to applause, adding at the end of his remarks, "I love you. I respect you. We're going to start winning again, and you're going to be leading the charge."

Trump blamed the "dishonest" media for the perceived rift with the intelligence community.

Many observers had commented on the unmatched level of skepticism Trump had directed at the US intelligence apparatus, and other speakers Saturday addressed the relationship between presidents and the intelligence community.

"CIA's relationship with the president has been essential to our nation's strength and security," acting director Meroe Park said prior to introducing Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

"I can assure you this new President and our entire team recognizes and appreciates the sacrifices of all of the men and women of the intelligence community of the United States of America," Pence told the assembled group.

Trump echoed Pence's praise but drew the ire of Brennan as well as Democrats for using the platform to address political issues entirely unrelated to the CIA.

The backlash from a agency veteran like Brennan could undermine Trump's latest push to foster a strong relationship between the White House and the intelligence community.

The President did take a moment to acknowledge the memorial behind him, saying, "The wall behind me is very, very special."

Trump also spoke about his desire to "eradicate racial Islamic terrorism ... off the face of the earth. This is evil."

And he said about Iraq, "We should have kept the oil. Maybe we'll have another chance."

But Trump's off-the-cuff remarks veered into political territory at times, something not typically seen in addresses to intelligence professionals who pride themselves on being non-partisan and which drew a quick attack from Democrats.

The CIA audience was separated into two sections: a main area of all agency staff and a separate section directly in front of the stage that consisted of senior agency leadership, including agents. During Trump's address, the senior leadership stood the entire time. When Trump began drifting into political topics, the main crowd broke into cheers and applause at points. The senior leadership remained stoic, and did not applaud the political lines.

The president also repeatedly slammed the media, saying, "I have a running war with the media" and accusing news organizations of misrepresenting the size of the crowds at his inauguration speech on Friday.

He talked about the number of times he has been on the cover of Time magazine.

The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee issued a statement shortly after Trump's visit ripping the new president.

"While standing in front of the stars representing CIA personnel who lost their lives in the service of their country -- hallowed ground -- Trump gave little more than a perfunctory acknowledgment of their service and sacrifice," Rep. Adam Schiff said, adding that Trump "meandered through a variety of other topics unrelated to intelligence."

"He will need to do more than use the agency memorial as a backdrop if he wants to earn the respect of the men and women who provide the best intelligence in the world," Schiff added.

The visit comes amid questions regarding the status of Trump's choice to run the agency, Rep. Mike Pompeo.

The CIA, currently being led by Park, is lacking a permanent chief as the Senate has delayed Pompeo's confirmation vote until Monday, with Democrats citing concerns about his positions on surveillance and other issues.

Pompeo, who was at the CIA with Trump, has encountered some controversy after he submitted responses to a Senate questionnaire where he said he would consider bringing back waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation measures under certain circumstances.

Republicans have slammed the delay, with Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas issuing a statement, saying, "The Democrats are obstructing the nomination of Mike Pompeo as CIA director for no good reason."

"I hope the jihadists take the weekend off from trying to kill Americans," Cotton added.

Kevin Liptak contributed to this story

Above is from:  http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/21/politics/trump-to-cia-i-am-so-behind-you/index.html

Listen to the entire speech:  http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trumps-entire-cia-speech/vi-AAm6dcd?ocid=spartandhp