Unlike Trump, Dan Coats doesn't shy from calling out Russia

WASHINGTON – President Trump’s director of national intelligence on Friday painted a stark picture of cyber security threats to the nation, comparing the warning signs to those that flashed red before 9/11 — and taking a much tougher stance towards Russia than his boss has.

“The system is blinking,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said in remarks at the Hudson Institute. “I believe we’re at a critical point.”

Coats’ comments came hours after the Justice Department indicted a dozen Russian military intelligence officers for attempting to undermine the 2016 election in part by hacking into the Democratic National Committee.

The charges upped the tension surrounding Trump’s meeting Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, the first preplanned, standalone meeting between the two leaders.

The latest on Indiana Attorney General Hill: Governor's office halts auto-tweet policy after criticism of link to Curtis Hill statement
Keep up on the news: Subscribe to the Hoosier Politics newsletter

Coats, a former senator from Indiana, showed none of the hesitation Trump has in criticizing Russia.

Despite Kremlin denials, Coats said, people affiliated with the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency continue to create social media accounts to masquerade as Americans and sow division. Russian government actors have also targeted businesses, state and local governments, critical infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, he said.

“Russia has been the most aggressive foreign actor, no question,” Coats said. “They continue their efforts to undermine our democracy.”

Indiana Rep. Jim Banks tweeted that Coats' warning "highlights why it is vital for President Trump to confront Putin next week."

Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly on Friday joined top congressional Democrats who called for Trump to cancel his meeting with Putin. Donnelly said that would "make clear that efforts to undermine our elections, attack critical U.S. infrastructure, and act as a destabilizing force abroad will not be tolerated.”

Trump has said he accepts Putin’s denials of Russian involvement in the 2016 elections.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump described Putin as a "competitor," not an enemy or a friend. 

"Not a question of friend or enemy. He’s not my enemy. And hopefully, someday, maybe he’ll be a friend. It could happen,” Trump said. 

He rattled Europe this week by attacking fellow members of NATO before claiming credit Thursday for reinvigorating the alliance.

Coats singled out Trump’s closing comments affirming his commitment to NATO as the “ones I really thought were important.”

“Because if NATO becomes unglued, Putin wins,” Coats said. “He’s trying to seize that potential opportunity. And I think we need to stand up against it.”

During Coats’ confirmation hearing for the position last year, he assured senators that he was not too much of a “nice guy” for the job and would be able stand up to pressure, including from the president.

In a recently published book on vice presidents, author Kate Andersen Brower said Coats was reluctant to take the job — and only agreed because Vice President Mike Pence repeatedly asked him too.

“Both these men see themselves as bulwarks against chaos,” Brower wrote.

Since becoming one of Trump’s top intelligence officers, Coats has defended the president. When The Washington Post reported in February that Trump doesn’t read his morning packet of intelligence reports, Coats dismissed as “pure fiction” any notion that Trump “is not fully engaged” in the daily briefing or does not read the materials.

But Coats has not echoed Trumps’ view of the world.

While the president has said his meeting last month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un solved the problem of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, Coats offered a different assessment Friday.

“I think it’s too early to determine exactly, definitively, that this is where they’re going to end up,” he said of the United State’s demand that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons.

Mueller investigation: 12 Russian intelligence officers indicted for hacking into DNC, Clinton campaign

Evoking Ronald Reagan’s approach to negotiations with the Soviet Union of “trust but verify,” Coats said: “Right now, I’m the verify guy.”

In fact, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee asked Coats this week to assess whether North Korea is really willing to significantly reduce its stockpile.

In Coats’ warning Friday that “the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack,” he named Russia, China, Iran and North Korea as the worst offenders who are conducting a range of daily cyberintrusions and attacks.

Russia’s choice of Putin as its leader was a “game changer” in reversing the Cold War thaw after the Berlin Wall came down, he said. Coats likened it to a Russian bear coming out of hibernation.

“He’s out of the cave, hungry, and he’s clawing for more territory, more influence, and using tactics that we saw in the Cold War and more,” Coats said.

If he were meeting one-on-one with Putin, Coats said, his message would be that the United States knows what he’s up to.

“If you want to stay in this tit-for-tat,” he said, “we’re going to beat you.”

Contact Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.