1/ Trump’s national security advisor disputed reports of Russian interference in the 2020 election, saying there’s “no intelligence behind� such claims. Robert O’Brien suggested that the House Intelligence Committee either misheard or misinterpreted part of last week’s briefing, and that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not mean to say that it believes the Russians are currently intervening in the election to help Trump. The U.S. intelligence community also clarified that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election and has separately assessed that Russia views Trump as a preferred leader. The intelligence community, however, says it does not have evidence that Russia’s interference is aimed at reelecting Trump. (CBS News / New York Times / CNN)

📌 Day 1127: An intelligence official in charge of election security warned the House Intelligence Committee last week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get Trump re-elected. Trump’s allies challenged the conclusions by Shelby Pierson during the meeting, arguing that Trump has been tough on Russia and strengthened European security. Trump reportedly “erupted� and “berated� his acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, in the Oval Office following the meeting over what he perceived as disloyalty. Trump also erroneously believed that Pierson had given information exclusively to Rep. Adam Schiff, complaining that Democrats would “weaponize� the disclosure. Yesterday, Trump announced that he was replacing Maguire with Richard Grenell, the ambassador to Germany and a vocal Trump supporter. (Washington Post / New York Times)

📌 Day 1128: Trump dismissed the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia was meddling in the 2020 presidential election, calling it “Hoax number 7!� Trump labeled the intelligence that Russia had “developed a preference� for Trump in 2020 “another misinformation campaign� by Democrats. Shelby Pierson, the intelligence community’s election threats expert, briefed the House Intelligence Committee last week that Russia was determined to interfere in the 2020 primaries and general election. Following the briefing, Trump blamed Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, for allowing the information about Russia’s meddling efforts to be included and for not informing him in advance. Trump then announced that he was replacing Maguire with Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany and a Trump supporter. (Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg /