Comment on Angus King ‘deeply troubled’ by efforts to counter stories on Trump’s Russia ties

U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he is “deeply troubled” by reports suggesting that the White House enlisted intelligence officials and members of Congress to counter news stories about President Trump’s ties to Russia. King and Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who is also a member of the Intelligence Committee, previously said that no special prosecutor or independent probe is necessary because their committee would be throughly investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. The Bloomberg news service reported Saturday that the Senate Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat warned the panel’s chairman over reports that the Republican worked with the White House to try to quash negative stories about Russian interference in last year’s U.S.