Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) grilled National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers on Wednesday after he repeatedly refused to answer the Senate Intelligence Committee's questions about his conversations with President Trump regarding the Russia probe. After Rogers declined to provide details on his private talks with Trump, King demanded an explanation. "Why are you not answering these questions? Is there an invocation by the president of the United States of executive privilege? Is there or not?" King asked.
Rogers insisted there was no invocation of executive privilege, but said he was staying mum because he felt it was inappropriate to answer the questions. "What you feel isn't relevant, admiral," King responded, arguing that if there was no legal justification for silence then Rogers ought to answer the questions.
But Rogers refused — though he insisted he didn't mean it "in a contentious way." "Well, I do mean it in a contentious way," King said. "I don't understand why you're not answering our questions."
National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe were also subjected to King's brutal line of questioning for their similar refusals to talk about their discussions with Trump. When King pressed Coats for the legal basis of his refusal, Coats admitted, "I'm not sure I have a legal basis." McCabe similarly struggled to explain his legal reasoning for not answering.
Watch King's questioning below. Becca Stanek