U.S. officials brief Congress on election security

Top U.S. officials will brief members of Congress on election security in a pair of panels Tuesday afternoon. Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, is not expected to be among the officials briefing members of the House and Senate.

Members of Congress are expected to hear from FBI Director Christopher Wray, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs, and Assistant Attorney General John Demers, among other officials. Instead of Grenell, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is expected to send Bill Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

“FBI and DHS are the lead in charge of securing our elections, and the IC [intelligence community] will participate in today’s briefings in support of that mission. The IC is focused on detecting and countering foreign election-related threats. ODNI will be represented at the briefings by NCSC Director Bill Evanina,” an ODNI spokesperson said.

President Trump made the controversial decision to tap Grenell as acting DNI last month. Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, has virtually no national intelligence experience.

Shelby Pierson, the election security threats executive at ODNI, is not currently expected to appear at the briefing. Pierson’s position at ODNI appeared to be in jeopardy after the president learned she delivered a February 13 assessment on, among other things, Russian election interference before lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee. The assessment, which was based on intelligence collected by multiple agencies, indicated that Russia had established a preference for Mr. Trump, multiple sources familiar with the briefing told CBS News. 

The president was infuriated that Democrats on the committee, including Chairman Adam Schiff, who served as lead House manager during last month’s impeachment proceedings, were briefed on information that Mr. Trump feared could be used as a political weapon against him. He was informed of the briefing by House Republicans, though it is not clear how the substance of the briefing was characterized.

After learning of the briefing, Mr. Trump summoned Joseph Maguire, who had been serving as acting director since August, to explain why it had taken place. Days later, the president named Grenell to the role, and Maguire resigned from government. Administration sources have contended that Maguire’s ouster was unrelated to the president’s displeasure with the House briefing.

However, Pierson said in February that she would not be dismissed from her position and that she had the support of Grenell.

“Ambassador Grenell has not asked me to leave,” Pierson said. “In fact, he has encouraged and affirmed his support for my position here in the organization. I have not asked to depart nor discussed resignation in any way.”

Grace Segers contributed to this report.